The Road Home: Mark's Tale
by AndyMine
Summary: Over Two years after Mark left with NG for Paris, finds him just as confused as ever over his place in the world. He misses John and the Twins as well as his extended Torchwood family. But somethings need to be done in order to find what home means.
1. Chapter 1

He loved walking down the street in the morning hours. The venders were putting up their wares as the shopkeepers cleaned the fronts of the stores. Early mornings in the lonely areas of Paris made Mark smile. He looked at the road ahead leading to the river. He was going to try to paint down there today, if NG didn't start to complain again. Two years old and the boy could speak better in French than any of the locals in Paris. He also neglected English so Mark had to struggle to get his point across to his darling son. The funny thing was that the boy was bright with other languages, he knew Welsh from the audio downloads Mark tried to learn from as well as French he needed in Paris. NG just didn't feel the need to speak English, it would seem.

"You're doing it to frustrate your Papa, right? I mean I could just pull it out of your mind, NG, but you get so upset when I try. I know, Papa didn't mean to hurt you so long ago." He patted NG on the head, pulling his youngest into a hug. "Papa hates what happened that day. So if you can, bring a smile to Papa's face and learn to speak English before we head home to your Daddy. Please?"

NG giggled and smiled saying in perfect English for an almost three year old "No!" He laughed as he ran from Mark down towards the water.

"NG, wait up!" Mark slung the backpack over his shoulder and began to chase after his son, who was now as much of a runner as Mark was. NG raced down the stairs becoming a dot on the shoreline as Mark struggled with the weight of his easel and supplies. He didn't see the man as he ran frantically for the steps. The man didn't see Mark for he was reading a book. He also didn't hear the cheers coming from the child on the shore.

Smack! The two men collided into each other. Mark fell backwards, dazed as the other man recovered quickly to notice the train that hit him. He stopped breathing as he saw Mark sitting there rubbing his head. Before the man could ask if Mark was all right, he bolted, leaving his stuff at the man's feet.

"NG! Papa's coming!" The man watched as Mark took the stairs down two at a time, leapt off the last and surged forward to the child that was just about to go for a swim. The stranger was watched as just before the boy was going to dunk himself, the brown-headed father caught him.

"Amazing!" The man said in French as he retrieved his book and Mark's things before he headed down the stairs to meet father and son.

Mark walked over to the man carrying NG. "I'm so sorry. He gets away from me sometimes. You must think the worst of me." Mark said in the worst French the man had ever heard. Mark may be able to read a language out of a person's head and understand it, but he really had a hard time learning the language to speak it correctly. And after over 2 years in France, he was still pathetic. Luckily, he had NG, He could talk to NG and the boy could simply state the meaning. It was also lucky that the people he knew in his neighborhood spoke to him, despite the bad taste it left in their mouths, in English. They just laughed and said French was a unique language and not everyone was meant to speak it. He laughed with them, not minding being a little bit of a joke. They loved his paintings and his smile and they loved NG even more.

The man stood still for a moment before he handed Mark back his belongings. "I was reading and I didn't see you, and I guess the same was for you. It isn't easy being a parent, I imagine." He watched NG look at him with a smile on his face. The boy was acting like he knew he was the source of his father's frustrations and was pleased with that. "Does he understand what I just said?" He watched Mark who was telling NG what to say the man.

Mark laughed at the wide-eyed face the handsome man had. As Mark came to notice the stranger, he realized he was a full 6 to 7 inches taller than himself. He had a rather stocky but well-maintained build, almost that of an athlete. Maybe a skier, yes, Mark thought a skier, it was the thought he brushed as he lightly scanned the man. Black hair, dark olive skin, this man looked almost rugged. Mark didn't let the appeal of the man bother him. He smiled as he replied in English. "NG speaks things better than me. I can only stumble along with the words, though I have been here two years." He kissed NG before putting the boy down to retrieve his stuff. NG translated the words exactly, tilting his head up at the man and returning the same smile his Papa wore.

"That is remarkable! He is so young, yet he can translate so elegantly. But I'm being rude. I should introduce myself. I'm Gerard Lambert. I work at and own the bookshop around the corner from here. But I mainly teach skiing. I use to ski professionally until I broke my collarbone. But I love to teach the fine artistry of the sport to others. I've even coached a few in the sport." Gerard became uneasy as he noticed how simple it was to open up to the pair before him.

Mark smiled at the man. "I'm Mark Perry and this is my son Nigel Gavin Perry-Hart. We call him NG for short. I'm an artist trying to find my voice. I lived in Cardiff for before I came here." NG repeated in French his Papa's words, bowing when it came to his name.

The man went as white as a sheet. "You were there, for the battle? I never met anyone from the city. Is that why you left?" He watch Mark shut down, realizing he somehow had hit a nerve, Gerard stammered a bit before he speak properly again. "Sorry, I talk too much. We've just met and I'm being rude."

"No it is okay, things just are a little hard to explain. I just needed to find myself. It was nice to meet you, but I should go. Come on NG, say good-bye Gerard. Thank you for bringing my stuff down." He smiled while NG spoke his father's words ending with good-bye in French before grabbing his Papa's hand as they walked away from Gerard.

Gerard watched, feeling bad that he chased Mark away. He also had the strangest of feeling that it wouldn't be the last time he saw the artist and his son.

Working all night made Mark sore. But some nights he love to just paint and it was worth being tired. He knew NG would be up soon. The boy rose right before sunlight. It wasn't too unusual if Mark was asleep for NG to crawl into bed with him for a bit. But if NG wanted something, like attention he would pull Mark's eyelids open and say in Welsh, "Open your eyes!" Mark would grumble while he saw his son's demon smile spread wider, knowing he had his Papa's full attention.

But on nights like this, NG would fall asleep on the settee waiting for Papa to turn off the lights. The boy had a habit of humming himself to sleep. Oddly enough it was similar to something Jack use to hum as a boy. So with the past coming in to his present, Mark would create visions from his childhood, that buyers called futurist. Mark became known as a Futurist, putting together science fiction scenes that were really based on things yet to come. So his work sold, sometimes that is.

He made a decent living off the painting. He even had a gallery that sold his work. The manager and owner Silvia Longo was a real American in Paris. She lived in the city for almost forty years, so she went a little native. She smoked clove cigarettes and her love of pastries showed on her hips, but she was still a class act. Dressing in black with white pearls, she left a grey streak her black hair, giving her a gothic look. Black nail polish with purple lipstick over lips that were part of a white powered face made up the rest of her features. But don't let that image fool you as Mark learned. Silvia was down to earth. She also had a different lover for every day of the week. She said it cleared her head for business knowing she could have her needs met without getting attached or having someone become needy for her affections.

"So how does this add up for sales for my stuff exactly?" Mark teased about her confession about her love life. He liked his agent and she didn't ask questions even when they had a little too much wine. It just didn't matter to her what had brought the man to Paris with his baby in tow.

"You could try sleeping with them, they might by more willing to buy your stuff." She thought it was a joke, until Mark's face fell.

"Hey, I didn't mean that." She poured him another glass. "Mark, I didn't mean to hit at something that close to home. You are into men right? I'm not reading you wrong, right?" She looked at his son snuggled up on a big pillow she had on the floor of her living room.

"I had to do that a long time ago, not in the way you think. Yes I prefer men. I've never been with a woman. Do you fancy me Silvia?" He batted his eyes at her flipping his hair back over his shoulders. "For you, I could make an exception."

She broke out in a fit of laughter. Tears rolling down her cheeks she answered, "If you want, darling, I'm game. But really, who was he, the one that broke your heart, and how did you get NG, there is no doubt that he is yours?" She watched Mark closely as he tried to think of answer that would work. He settled for the truth.

"I needed time to grow a bit. I have seen and been through enough to know that I have had my life taken from me too many times. So I decided to leave my lover, John, for a bit. He wanted to get married. NG is his and mine and as strange as it sounds, I'm able to have children. I know it is weird. I'm an alien, kind of, well not where I come from."

Silvia took it in stride, making Mark not believe she took him seriously. "I see. I have friends in Cardiff and they say it is a strange place, full of things that go bump in the night and such." She stood up and went for the kitchen. "I think I need another bottle of wine."

He waited for her to return, not wanting to hear good bye from a friend now that she must think he was nuts. "I should go. It is late." He went to stand but Silvia pushed him back down.

Getting his full attention, she stated. "I don't care what your story is, if you say you gave birth to NG, then I believe you. And if you have some one waiting then I won't make jokes. But one day I want to meet this John of yours. Just so I can see that he didn't hurt you and that is why you left. Now if you don't mind, pour this drunken female more wine and tell me more about your life. It will help me be creative in selling your art!"

From that moment on, Silvia was like a sister to Mark and a daughter to Jolein. And to NG she was an affectionate Auntie.

It wasn't easy being away from John. Mark was never able to sleep well without him. That could explain the all night painting binges he went on for weeks straight. He hardly got any sleep. It was like that with the "creatures." They didn't allow sleeping the day away. But he really started to think he developed his sleeping habits as a young kid. Blue used to keep him up for most of the night when he would sneak in and stay over. As they got older it was almost second nature not to have any more than 4 hours of sleep a night. He only changed his habits when he found John. Their bedroom antics would have him sleeping like a baby. He did that after NG was born, but when John was in the coma, Mark went back to the four-hour pattern. Now alone again, he was finding those wee hours of the night to be the time he got the most done.

NG would nap and sometimes his Papa would join him. The boy was nice to sleep next to. Since Mark wasn't able to read NG he wasn't prone to his thoughts. So sleep was dream free and Mark liked it that way. Plagued with bad dreams his whole life, he somehow found peace with his little dream catcher child.

But NG had his own dreams that left an impression on a child's mind. Mark could never get the boy to tell him about them. When they were bad, NG would shake for hours afterwards, clutching onto his Papa until he fell asleep again. For the most part Mark believed NG never remembered them. That wasn't true; NG just didn't know how to talk about them. So over time he just kept them to himself.

Mark found Leon and Jolein to be easier in this way. He could just go into their heads, find the hurts and soothe them away. He taught John how to do this before he left, explaining to John that it was a better way for them to get over the dreams and it helped them not to fear whatever monster they imagined. But what Mark didn't know because he couldn't see what NG's dreams were it wasn't just monsters that NG dreamed about. It was parts of people's lives that were yet to come. So for even an intelligent little boy like NG, these images haunted the boy's mind because he didn't know what they meant or what even brought them up in a dream.

Those nights NG didn't go back to sleep that easily. He sometimes had to pretend to fall asleep in his Papa's arms. NG didn't want to upset his father anymore than Mark already was. So he faked sleep and kept the nightmares to himself.

Living in Paris, the boy soon was able to forget the nightmares that he had sometimes. He was a child and that part of his brain for analyzing was still underdeveloped so he locked them away with each morning and laughed at the world as all children did. NG was a happy boy. He made friends of all ages and he had a Papa and Nana that loved him very much. Though Jolein had her reservations about the boy. She loved the Twins just a little more because NG was growing up spoiled. Mark catered to him too much, giving in to the boy more often than he should.

"It isn't healthy for him to think he can get away with things. John wouldn't let him. When you return home, NG and John will have some conflicts in personalities. I can see you stepping in a lot." His mother would warn.

"I understand, Mama. NG is different. I hurt him when he wasn't even born. I have to treat him differently. As Loyalwin said, we don't know what the moonstone's power did to him. I know it sealed him off to us and that has to alienate him, making him feel alone. It is up to us to bend the rules with him a little, right?" He paused from his painting to look at his mother.

"Being different for the rest of us isn't an excuse for him not to have boundaries, my dear. But you do what you want, just don't expect me not to get angry when he breaks something again." She was mad that he had ruined the bottle of perfume she had received from a beau.

"Mother, it was perfume. It isn't like he slammed a car into a building. Little kids do that type a thing all the time. You don't want to know what Jolein and Leon did to Jack and Ianto's secret drawer they found hidden in their nightstand. They thought the different color lubes were paints and repainted all of their bedroom furniture. I think we still have the picture we took of Ianto's face." Mark started to laugh, his mother joining in.

"Okay, maybe I'm just not used to kids like yours. You were so good. Never a bad word or deed." She saw the look on Mark's face realizing she may have went too far.

"Until I got older, then that changed. I used to hear you and Dad fighting over my condition. Mama, I'm sorry for that." He paused with the brush over the spot he was working on. He knew if he let himself do that brushstroke, it would ruin the painting. His mood was now darker and this was a happy painting. He rested his brush down instead and turned to his mother.

"Oh Andy, you know we loved you. It was just your father was so upset. He wanted you to go off to school, find yourself. Blue loved you, I got that, and he would have let you do anything you wanted. But your father didn't see the baby as I did. We fought because I wanted him to understand you." She had her son in a hug, rubbing his back as he held onto her.

"I know Mama, it is just I'm not that type of parent. John is like Dad sometimes and it bothers me that maybe history will repeat itself if we walk the same way our parents did."

"You two won't. You are far different then we were. I'm so proud of you. I'm sorry for bringing this up." She pulled him tighter into her arms.

"I know, and in a way you are right, but NG is different. He will do things greater than the rest of us. I just have a feeling about it. I want him to fly, if he needs to."

"I understand that, but will John? You should go home and see him. Or have him come to Paris. It is time you faced him and told him that you miss him. The astral plain is only a fantasy for the both of you. Ben is with Nick and John is nothing but a workaholic now. Go home; you proved you could live your own life. If not for you, then for the children, think of NG, he needs his family."

"Just give me a few more months. John is letting the twins come for a visit. Ianto said he would bring them. So let's take it from there." He smiled at his mother before kissing her and returning to his painting.

Jolein was still worried for her son but at least she knew he now had the idea of going home in his head. It was all she hoped to achieve with him. After all, family should be together. John loved her son. They were the perfect match. That was how the Universe planned it and she fully believed it was true.

End Chapter One

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

The strange things Jack was beginning to see in Ianto weren't always obvious. It took Jack a lot of understanding when Ianto said that he wasn't allowed to tell Jack what happened to him in the future. All Ianto said was that the memory of Jack's natural smell always made him feel that he was loved and that was enough to see him through whatever the 51st century had in store for him. As long as he held Jack close to his heart, he would have been all right. But Ianto had changed in ways that were very small.

Jack sighed and pulled Ianto in closer, holding his husband to his chest as he held back his own tears. It was too much for Jack to bear, that he almost lost Ianto. But Ianto would not be kept in a glass box or told he couldn't work for Torchwood. So whatever Jack was thinking of doing to prevent that, Ianto was one step ahead of him with the argument.

"That's so childish, Jack! I'm not staying in the Hub and never going out in the field again. You are asking me to forego taking the risks that everyone else takes. John has children. Sally and Dan are parents as well as will Gwen and Rhys some day. You can't ask them to take those risks while I stay here." He pouted folding his arms over his naked chest. "And you thought that sex would change my mind, what make me pliable?"

Jack looked up from kissing his way up Ianto's chest. "It was worth a shot. It used to work with you." He gave up the romance and flopped over on his back. "We went to the China Sea and you still didn't tell me. Ianto, you have changed." He closed his eyes trying to imagine what it was that Ianto must have gone through.

"Jack." Ianto sighed as he tried to get the words out he needed to say to his husband.

"No, you are right. I'm being stupid. Sorry I brought it up." He got up to leave the warmth of their bed but was stopped by strong loving arms wrapping themselves around him.

"I see things differently, I know what happens, well kind of. You have to understand that yes, what I experienced changed me, but only because I needed to so I could survive. I understand that you are afraid I might go away again, anything is possible with this job. But you have to also understand, that most of what I am is because of this job. It isn't just a job, all of it as well as you are my life." He held Jack tight.

"I know, just like John, so involved because it made you something you never thought you could be." He broke free of the hold and removed himself from Ianto's warmth, their bed, put on some clothes and left their house.

Ianto found Jack later walking on the peer overlooking the water. He began with, "I just heard from Mark. I'm going to bring the Twins to visit. Do you want to come with us? You and I never did Paris. It would be nice." He was next to Jack watching the immortal stare out at the water.

"Let John take his kids. It is time Mark brought NG home to be with his other father." He didn't look at Ianto but let the words slip out in defeat. He sniffed in the sea air once before he found himself staring at Ianto's lips.

"Mark isn't ready to see John yet. Anyway, John has that meeting with the PM that you asked him to go on. Now you can either do that yourself or you can come with me. Besides, defense plans aren't your strong point. That is something more for your Head of Security. Jack, if I am willing to make a compromise, will you at least act like I'm still in this world?"

"I'm being a brat, is that what you want to say?" It was his turn to watch Ianto stare at the water. When they were away, he loved watching Ianto. He still did, even at home. But they didn't talk about home then. It was a "getting to know you all over again trip" without Torchwood as the only interest that the two men had in common. The trip made them realize that they shared a lot of things in common and that they had a fair amount of things that they didn't share. It didn't matter. What mattered was that both men found they could grow together and learn from each other as they fell in love all over again.

"I should have fallen in love with you sooner." Ianto remembered future Jack saying. Well they didn't need to, because every time they looked at each other, they fell in love. To Jack's surprise Ianto laughed out loud when he came to the realization that they were always in love.

"Care to share the joke?" Jack asked tartly. He glared at the Welshman wondering what was up with him.

"Sure. It is you and I, Jack. You are getting upset with me because you are afraid that what happened to me will happen again. I see it now. I'll make a deal with you. Make me your first officer, if you want to call it that or maybe your 'number one' and make me hold equal authority with you and I'll stay to run the Hub while you go out and act all Captain on the poor people of Cardiff." He smiled at his husband waiting for him to respond.

"Isn't that bribery? I mean I don't have to give you anything. I could just order you to stay put." He was staring right into Ianto's twinkling eyes. What a man to be so clever and creative so often. "Damn, you're good." Jack leaned into kiss Ianto, whispering, "Anything as long as I know you are safe from more harm." He kissed those lips he never got sick of tasting.

"Things happen in the Hub as well." Ianto let that thought sink in. "But I will do my best to not let that happen either." He smiled before adding a more serious note. "Promise me this, we will still have our Weevil hunts, right?"

Jack laughed out loud before leaning in to rub noses. "Oh you drive a hard bargain, Jones, Ianto Jones! Granted!" They sealed the deal with a smile as they walked away together arm in arm.

"Now about Paris…" Ianto continued his next task of convincing Jack that he had to go with him. It ended in a yes and a quick stop under the peer. Sand, sun, surf and naked Jack were all the answer Ianto needed for a verified yes.

Jolein bit her lip when she went to retrieve the Twins, Jack and Ianto at the airport. NG was with her singing French songs in Welsh and adding bits of English to them as well. He was giggling at the attention he drew from the travelers, thus ignoring his Nana's nail biting until he noticed her chewed up fingers.

"Nana, why are you biting your fingers?" He said in English.

"NG, I will tell you why only if you tell me why you will speak English to anyone but your Papa. You know he thinks you refuse to learn it." She watched as the devil child smiled up at her.

"He knows I understand it. That is enough." He went back to singing, smiling up at her.

She was frustrated with him; it was obvious by the huff she let out. She didn't get the child at all; he seemed to love to make it more difficult with everything than it had to be.

"Your Papa may seem to think your behavior is cute, but your Nana doesn't."

He frowned, not liking what he heard in his Nana's tone. "Sorry," he said and he meant it.

She felt bad for NG. He just didn't seem to fit in within things but yet he had this appeal. Mark had been such an easy child. He was all love and caring, like a bit of sunshine. NG just seemed to make it cloudier or maybe bring the rain. But he wasn't as bad as Jolein always painted him to be. Mark would tell her she was just not used to the very intelligent types and that he himself was good because he was scared of his Dad.

She remembered a conversation they had shortly after they got to Paris. "Your father was not always a bad man, he just wanted you safe. I don't accept what he did to you, Andy, but he did love you. He mourned you until he died. He would still contact me on your birthday, telling me he was so sorry he chased you away. Even in the end he just wanted you to forgive him."

"If he loved me, he found a strange way to show it. But in the end he wasn't able to keep me from Blue, he is still in my life and still my friend. But I wouldn't be here if Dad hadn't…" It was painful to say, it didn't need to be said. They both knew what was left unsaid. That unborn child that still cried somewhere in Mark's darkest dreams still haunted both of them.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry. This isn't about that. But if you brought NG home, John could help with the boy. He needs something, maybe not discipline but a strong hand for guidance. Besides, don't you miss John?"

Jolein gnawed on what was left of her thumbnail as she remembered Mark not finishing the conversation. It wasn't right for NG to be isolated like this. He should be with his Dad and siblings during this time. In her opinion her son was being selfish. But she also understood that his captivity, being enslaved gave him a need to taste freedom. If John loved him like she felt he did, he would let Mark go and wait.

NG, seeing his uncles and siblings entering the gate had him at a dead run away from his Nana. Jolein cursed as she ran after the young boy. He laughed as he continued his song right up to the tackle hug he gave Leon.

"Boo!" He yelled in his brother's ear before he ran off again, this time chased by both twins.

"Jolein, Leon, NG you stop that now!" Jack yelled making the Twins stop in their tracks. NG kept going.

"Well two out of three isn't bad." Ianto quipped. He smiled at Jack watching as the immortal took off after the boy. Ianto watched this thinking how the man that could fight aliens on the best of days was suddenly bested by a two year old. NG sprinted far ahead with Jack losing distance in pursuit of his youngest godson.

"I give up, I can't control him any more than Mark can. The kid almost took a dive into the Seine the other day. Do you know that Mark has him running with him once a week? The boy is just too wild. I think I need to go live in Cardiff with the good Grandkids." She smiled down at Leon and Jolein as they came to hug her.

"It's alright Nana, NG is just spreading his wings. He needs to do this." Leon looked up at the adults with a smile.

"What NG needs Leon, Nana isn't going to say out loud."

"Right, I think Jack has this in hand. Shall we play get the luggage, children?" Ianto tried his best to make everything a game.

Jolein Jr. didn't buy the act for a moment. "Really, Uncle Ianto, you can come up with something better than that, we are almost six now." She frowned.

"Oh, I keep forgetting that. Thanks for reminding me. So what do those at your extended age think we should do?"

"Get Ice Cream!" It was yelled together by both Twins.

"Oh no you don't. Your Dad will make me into Weevil burgers if I allowed that kind of manipulation. You know the rules. So first luggage, Papa, lunch, and then ice cream. And maybe by then your Uncle Jack would have caught NG. Shall we, Jolein?" Ianto always the gentleman gave Jolein his arm. The twins didn't pout like NG would. They just grabbed a hand from each adult and went to get the first task done. After all, it would bring them one step closer to ice cream.

The boy, Jack soon discovered, could out run him and he was clever. Ducking under things that Jack had to go around which made Jack lose ground on the boy. The child frustrated Jack as he lost more space to the fast boy.

He was just about to give up when NG fell, giving Jack a chance to catch up. It was then airport security showed up. NG began to cry.

"It's okay NG, I'm here." Jack went to scoop the boy up causing NG to yell loudly for his Papa.

"Excuse me sir, but are you the boy's father?" The officer asked.

"NO! I don't know him. Papa! Papa! I want Papa!" NG screamed in French.

Jack slightly smiled as he began to wish he never left Cardiff. "Okay sir, step away from the boy." The officer held out his nightstick.

"Wait there is a mistake, I'm his Godfather. NG, tell them who I am." Jack pleaded with the boy.

"PAPA! PAPA!" NG screamed louder as the security officer moved closer to Jack.

"Okay sir, come with us." The officer grabbed Jack's arm forcefully while the other one picked NG off the ground.

Jack began to protest. "I am his Godfather, I swear. I'm here to visit his father and he is with his Nana. My name is Captain Jack Harkness. I'm work for the British government."

NG was in front of Jack now in the arms of the other guard, watching Jack's testimony with a smirk. When the guard wasn't look he stuck his tongue out at Jack. Jack narrowed his eyes vowing he would not lose to this brat.

"Are you quite done laughing Ianto? I mean are you finished making the most out of this? Did you write it in your diary and send it back to John and the others so that they can have a merry time of it when I get back?" Jack sat on the couch in Mark and Jolein's apartment waiting for Mark to return from having a little talk with NG. The twins were shopping with Jolein Sr. for dinner. Mark thought it would be nice if their first night together they would just stay home.

"I think it will be a while before I stop finding this funny. What gets me is they still didn't believe you weren't some pervert. Played by a two year old, Jack that must be a new one, even for you." Ianto handed his husband a glass of wine.

"He is a hell spawn, not a two year old!" He gulped the glass down.

"Okay, maybe you should take it easy. He is just a little boy. A rather clever little boy, but still just a little boy, at least the Security office got a kick out of it. You made their day, you know." He sat down next to Jack.

Jack started to laugh as Mark came out of the room. He went right for the wine. "He is grounded tonight. But it won't last. He'll charm his way out of the room looking all-cute in his PJ's. I'm a sucker for that kid." He sipped his wine while he went to set the table.

"He is cute but how do you manage? Jolein Sr. looks like she is going to leave him by the orphanage one day. I think she wants to come back to Cardiff." Ianto went to help Mark, falling into the old routine from when they shared a house.

"What, she isn't happy here? Is the brat driving her a way?" Jack whispered knowing if NG were like the Twins, he would be listening.

"He's asleep, Jack. I willed him to sleep. It works sometimes when he is exhausted. A run through the airport would have done that. No, she met someone that is from Cardiff. So she wants to date him. I'm not sure how I feel about that," he frowned.

"You should be happy for me. Right, my dears?" Jolein was back with food and two tired looking twins. The put their bags on the table and ran to their Papa to be hugged.

"Papa! We missed you!" They said together. Mark spent a long time hugging his babies while Jolein Sr. and Ianto started dinner. Watching from the couch, Jack ran the arguments through his head on what he would have to say to get his friend to come home for good.

Just as Mark was about to release the Twins, NG ran into the room to join in the group hug. "NG, what did I say?" Mark growled at the child.

"You said I could come out later. It is later no?" He said in Welsh with a French accent.

Ianto started chuckling. "Oh what a perverse way to speak Welsh!" Ianto was still snickering as he returned with a pot of water for the noodles to cook in.

"NG, why do you not listen?" His father became cross. NG stuck out his lower lip looking so sad that Mark just sighed out his frustration. The twins watched as their Papa stood up. Getting the vibe from the situation, Jolein Jr. tugged at Leon's shirt to get his attention. They both went to the safety of Uncle Jack, just a little upset by the sudden change in the environment.

"Oh here it comes Ianto, just like I said. He is giving into the brat because he can't say no to him. Isn't that right, my son?" Jolein dumped the vegetable into the steamer before turning to prepare the breaded chicken breasts.

"Mother, please, just let it go. NG, I'm not falling for it. Get into your room and I will tell you when to come out." NG just stood there smiling. "NG, now!" Mark grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him into the room. NG gasped, not understanding the disappointment in his father. His father's reaction was new to him. He could only assume it had something to do with his brother and sister and Uncles being here. NG started to really cry.

"Sorry, Papa, I didn't mean to make you mad." He blinked tears out of his eyes while Mark tucked him back in bed.

"NG, you have to start listening to me. I don't say things because I like to listen to myself talk; I want you to listen so you can learn. Right now, your Nana is getting to me. And I know why your Uncle Jack is here." This wasn't new to NG. Mark was often telling him his feelings so the boy had an idea what feelings were. NG didn't just have a problem feeling emotions from others; he had a problem understanding what emotions meant. Mark knew in his heart and as a parent that with NG, saying, "Because I said so," just wouldn't work with the boy. He needed to understand why it was important.

"To take you home Papa, that's why he is here." Mark was shocked that NG didn't include himself in the equation.

"No NG, to take us home. But I don't want to go yet. I feel good here. I'm myself, not what your Daddy or Uncle Jack thinks I should be. I need this freedom. Can you understand that?" He watched NG carefully.

NG sat up and thought about the words for a moment. "I understand Papa, I will be good for now. You don't need to worry about me as well. Hug?" He reached for his Papa and was glad when Mark sank into his son's hug, returning it just the same. "I'll stay here and sleep. I love you, Papa." He independently broke away from Mark and snuggled under the covers smiling as he closed his eyes.

Mark reached for to shut off the light but not before speaking. "I love you as well, sweet pea. Thanks for saying it in English, NG. That means a lot to your Papa." He kissed the boy's forehead before switching the light off and heading for dinner.

NG watched the outside light make shadows on the wall. He didn't sleep for a while; he was too busy making them into monsters so he could play, NG, Monster Slayer, until he was able to sleep.

If it were up to John, he would have gone to Paris and collected a shagged hair brown eyed beauty that took his heart along with one of his children to Paris. Instead, he was in London with the Defense Department and some people from the Prime Minister's office talking about what Torchwood could do to help during an invasion.

'You had to let your dick talk for you back then. Gods, I was so stupid to let him go.' A tap on the shoulder interrupted his thoughts about Mark.

"Mr. Hart, if there is something else you would rather being doing, we could postpone this until Captain Harkness is around." One of the Prime Minister's aides said. "It might be better to put this off until UNIT can be here as well. Their plans seem to be in order and this Early Warning Device seems to be an excellent first choice for any type of impending disaster." He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

John didn't notice until now what a very ordinary looking male this Mr. Peters, as the nametag said, was. But his tone was pompous. The one thing that John hated the most was over educated desk jockeys posing as men with power. He didn't like being told that he would have to wait for UNIT. He smiled dangerously at the group. Stretching his arms he folded his hands behind his neck before speaking.

"Bullocks! What UNIT is offering you is nothing more than a cheap toy that will make for a pretty light show, but will in no way protect you. You should save your money and just check the sky at that point with a pair of binoculars for that is just as accurate as what they have for you." The group's full attention was on John. He took this time to stand with cat-like agility, making the room just a little nervous.

The lights dimmed when he hit a button on his wrist strap. An image appeared in 3D in front of them, making those around the table gasp. It was a cylindrical device made of a smooth grey like substance, maybe a metal. "Don't let the size fool you, it is really smaller than that. We have a saying at the Hub: it isn't the size but what you can do with it."

The room was silent save for a squeaking chair that a rather prudish woman in her thirties occupied. John's devil smile had her blushing. "Anyway, this tiny thing was developed by Torchwood as a signal booster. What it will do is disrupt any missile weapons and destroy them by making them think they have already hit the target. It will adapt to any domestic or alien heat seeking or trajectory projectile. I see you're getting a little excited, Miss." He pointed to the chair squeaker from before.

"Mr. Hart, your brute charms are meaningless here. I'm aware of Captain Harkness and your reputations so if we could cut to the chase without the lines, I would be very delighted to hear more about this. But UNIT has the much better plan." She frowned at John.

His confidence didn't wane. He knew how to handle these tight ass women so he smiled, looking at her nametag and responded. "Ms. Davenport, I believe you have to understand that we are being serious. You wasted my time for two hours talking about everything that was in the folder you sent Captain Harkness and now you act like I'm wasting your time. It took us a lot of time to get ready this for presentation and now you have the nerve to act like I'm making this up or something like that. To further add insult to injury, you insist that we wait for UNIT. My mind is somewhere else, on my family that I miss, because I'm here with you. Now you have the balls to say UNIT's idea is better?" John was leaning against the wall, waiting for some type of response.

It was an older man that spoke up after a long moment of nerve grating silence. "Mr. Hart, I know what it is like to be away from my family but what Ms. Davenport is trying to say is that your device looks like a lot of money to build. It is small and yet complex in design. I don't think we have that type of technology to handle its production. I say we have all the information we need. Shall we vote?" It was almost like they didn't even want John to finish and that they already had decided what they wanted before they got here. Wasting John's time was just a polite way of refusing Torchwood's bid.

John could help it when he laughed. "Oh, you silly fools. I should have guessed that you would go with the safer way without hearing the full story. You clever bastards that have it all figured out. Save for one thing; you never asked the cost, you just assumed it would cost too much." He folded his arms in front of his chest and crossed his leg over the other.

"Well, we just see that something like that will be expensive." The older man said. "But since we brought you here, how much will it cost?" His eyes to John seemed soulful all of a sudden.

"Exactly 3,000 pounds. It is a program that we insert in to your already established defense grid. There is no manufacturing. Now, who is it that gets the defense contract?"

His grin stayed with him for a while after he got off the phone with Jack. He reminded Jack that he owed him big time for nailing a ten-year contract with the Government. Speaking to Mark briefly left him feeling very gloomy and depressed. So that night he waited for Mark in their world for what seemed like centuries until the familiar mind touched his and they made love on the astral world.

Mark held John for a while before he spoke. "I promise let me have a few more months and NG and I will come home. I need to really touch you and be touched by you."

John didn't respond verbally he just nodded. It was the same thing Mark always said. John somehow was beginning to not see it ever happening until he went to physically bring Mark home. Right now he didn't let Mark feel that he didn't believe him. He just needed what he could get from Mark, even if it was just a fantasy.

End Chapter 2

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Gerard spent some of his time wandering the shoreline in search of the artist and his son. It seemed like they had just dropped off the face of the Earth. It wasn't just that he had found an attraction for the man; it was that he wanted to see more of his work. He had an idea for a present for his mother. She was going to be 81 that year and Gerard thought a painting of him would bring her joy. He loved his mother and since she lived in Germany for most of the year he hoped that his face would bring her comfort more than cell phone calls could.

It was just a thought and he could find another artist to do. But there was something unusual about Mark. Gerard could just tell that Mark would be able to capture him on canvas like no other. Mark read into him even if he didn't understand a bit of French. And his son; the boy was just too cute translating for his father. They were a unique pair, to say the least.

Gerard could also sense that some tragedy had befallen the man enough to make him leave Cardiff and try to make his way in Paris as an artist with a small child as well. Mark was also one of the most attractive males he had seen in a while. So maybe his intention in finding the artist wasn't just business. His motivation was also a little lusty.

But love in Paris was fickle and what you couldn't have one day may just mean something better was around the corner. It was that attitude that found Gerard wandering around the Rue Vieille du Temple in search of the wayward artist and in the hopes of finding someplace that had one of Mark's paintings. It hadn't accord to Gerard that Mark may not have his works available, even in a gallery. He just went on the assumption that one that was so beautiful chasing after a little boy, he whom himself seemed like a living work of art, had that kind of talent. Okay, maybe his thoughts were a little bit in the fantasy world, but it was nice to have a daydream.

It was by luck that a little boy ran past him that looked surprisingly like NG. He waited to see if Mark was chasing him but the only person to go after NG was another little boy. "NG, you going to make Uncle Jack mad. I don't think we should run ahead like this!"

NG giggled at the other boy and said in the best French a two year old could muster. "Uncle Jack can stuff it. It is over here, anyway. Don't you want to see Papa's works?"

NG headed straight for a gallery a few stores up. The other little boy, who looked to be about six years of age, grumbled something about how Uncle Jack was going to be very cross indeed, but followed NG into the shop. Gerard notice the other little boy looked just like Mark. He was surprised at his good fortune, wondering if by chance that maybe NG was a spirit and not a little boy by leading him down a path that could be rewarding. With fate smiling upon him, he entered the shop.

Silvia stopped NG in his tracks. "What is this, NG? You know that running isn't allowed in here. Oh Leon, you brought Leon to me. My, you're getting bigger and look more like your Papa every day. Come here and give me a hug!"

Leon smiled as he skipped to Silvia. "I missed you too, Aunt Silvia. Papa will be here with Jolein in a minute. Uncle Jack and Uncle Ianto are coming as well."

"As always Leon, you are a wealth of information. But how are you doing in school? Here, I have your favorite cookies." She noticed the man looking at the pictures. There you go. Please sit down and eat while I go chat with my customer. And try not to get crumbs all over the place, my little dears. Hello, welcome to my gallery. Can I help you?"

It was NG who answered for him. "He is here to see Papa's paintings. We met him on the banks the other day." NG munched on a cookie.

Leon nodded. "He wants to know what paintings are Papa's." Leon smiled at Gerard and pointed. "They are the fantastic ones over there. Silvia has all of Papa's works on that wall because the light there is the best."

NG translated what his brother had said while crunching a cookie. "NG, don't talk with your mouth full." Leon scolded his brother.

Silvia's mouth fell to the ground. "Well, I'm so sorry about them. They love their Papa very much. It is only natural they think everyone is here to see his works." She made a note to remind Mark to explain to Leon that reading a customer's mind, though a great idea to insure a sale wasn't correct behavior. "My name is Silvia, how can I help you?"

She thought she was hearing things when Gerard replied. "NG is right, I am here to see Mark's works. It took me awhile to find where he was hiding his paintings. We met on the beach. I brought him his artist supplies that he dropped as he went chasing after NG." He looked the boy.

NG laughed out loud as he smiled proudly that the stranger had remembered him.

"What's it like NG, to run with Papa?" Leon asked, taking a sip of milk from his glass.

"I was running from Papa, Leon. I wanted to go swimming, like last summer when we all went to Greece." He watched Gerard with sharp eyes.

Gerard notice the boy spoke in English to his brother. "Is he always like this?" He turned to Silvia.

"He likes you, so he is showing off his large brain. He has a high IQ for one so young. He seems to process information very fast and he understands it. But now he is showing off. Right, NG?"

NG nodded as a strange little grin appeared on his face. He took another cookie and sipped his milk.

It was Leon's turn to add to Gerard's amusement. "If you wait a moment, Mr., my Papa can walk you though his art. He should be walking in the door now."

Mark entered, holding the hand of a little girl and followed by Jolein Sr. Jack and Ianto. "Leon and NG, what did I say about running ahead? Why is it I have no control when it comes to you?" He wasn't angry with the boys. His words were said in jest.

"You act like them, my dear. That is why they don't listen to you. That is why NG is such a brat." Jolein Sr. walked over to the boy and kissed him on the head. "You are the main reason I'm going back to Cardiff. I need some sanity."

NG giggled. "No it isn't! You want to snog Mr. Albert." He stuck his cookie-crusted tongue out at his Nana.

"NG, you are so bad." It was time for his big sister to step in. She earned the same tongue.

"Now you see, I can't do this any more, Mark. You are on your own." Jolein Sr. said to her son with a smile. As she walked out the door she spoke. "I'll see you at dinner. Jack and Ianto, try to not let the brat ruin your trip to the city of love."

"I'm glad his terrible twos are in Paris," Ianto said before he started to walk around the gallery.

"Cookies," was all Jack said before he ran over with Jolein Jr. to have a few.

"People, though your domestic life is fascinating, we have a customer. And from what NG says, he is an acquaintance of yours Mark." Both Jack and Ianto looked at the man and then their eyebrows shot up when they looked at each other.

"Oh, hello, sorry for running off the other day." Mark was taken aback by Gerard's presence in the gallery. He was trying his French. Silvia made a face at him.

"I can speak English or NG could translate for you if you want. Right NG?"

A big flat "No!" was all NG said. He smiled again at Gerard.

"Don't mind him, he is a devil. English is fine. So why did you feel the need to track me down?" Mark asked, guiding Gerard over to his paintings.

"Like that isn't obvious!" Jack said, earning a look from Ianto and a giggle from the children and Silvia.

"Whatever the reason, let's hope he buys something." Silvia said out of Mark's hearing. The two men were engrossed in discussing Mark's work already.

"I think more than selling art is going on. NG, you've had enough." Ianto pulled the cookie out of the boy's hand, bringing tears to NG's little face. "Won't work, I don't buy the water works."

NG giggled at his Uncle Ianto. "Fool me once?" He simply asked.

"Is he for real? NG, you're a midget, not a little boy." Jack asked winking at the kids.

"No, I'm a little boy. What's a midget?" He looked at Jolein for the answer.

"A small person that is childlike in size. You are not a midget; you've grown too much since the summer." Jolein leaned over and kissed her baby brother. He promptly wiped his cheek off, making a "yuck" face.

The sounds of laughter turned Mark's head for a moment while during his explanation of the beach scene he had painted from memories of Boeshane.

"The other two, they are yours as well?" Gerard asked.

Silvia returned to Mark and Gerard but realized quickly she didn't want to be in the middle of this. She knew what flirting was and right now Gerard was after more than a piece of art. The trained eye saw that he was here because he wanted the artist.

"Silvia, tell them I'll be there in a moment." Mark said as he watched his friends and family talk together and joke with each other. Mark was lucky that all the people he knew seemed to fit together. His gaze went back to Gerard and for the first time Mark got a good look at the man. He was stunning. "Yes, they are all mine. The Twins are visiting for a week. They came with their Uncles. Jack is in the RAF coat and Ianto is his husband."

He nodded, not wanting to push too fast. But he couldn't get over Mark, father of three and living as an artist in Paris. "I see you have your hands full, so I will get right to the point. From what I have seen, I love your work. From the moment I bumped into you, I had a feeling you were the one for me." He watched Mark's cheeks blushed when he realized how that sounded. "I mean the one I need to paint my portrait. My mother's birthday is soon and she would love a painting of me. All these years in Paris and I have never thought about it before. You inspired me." He smiled, catching Mark's soft brown eyes with his own.

"Oh, well, I really don't do portraits, at least not for sale. How do you know I would be any good?" He tilted his head at Gerard, making the man's heart skip a beat.

"I don't know, but I think I can say that I'm sure you wouldn't let me down." He reached into his pocket and gave Mark a business card.

"Here is my number. Call me when things are a little less busy for you and I would love to discuss this over dinner. Well, I should go. Until we meet again," he bowed to Mark slightly and turned to leave.

Mark stared the door for a few moments before he headed towards the laughing group behind him. It was when he caught Jack's eye he knew there was a lecture just around the corner.

"Oh, a commissioned piece! Mark, that is fantastic! I wonder if he would let it hang here for a bit to promote you with another skill?" Silvia's eyes lit up with the prospect of more business.

Mark sighed. "I'm not very good at portraits. I only really painted my family. That is different, I can see them inside as well as out." He felt Jack staring at him but didn't look in his direction. It wouldn't be long for the lecture to come from the immortal. Jack was increasingly becoming annoyed with this visit that much Mark was sure of.

It was then that Mark had a thought. "Ianto, why don't Jack and you go take in the sights? I can handle the kids for the day. I have a neat place to take them and I'm sure they won't be a problem. Right NG?" He watched NG nod because he could tell what his Papa wanted to do.

It was the one place NG loved to spend time at and he always behaved because it filled his mind with wonder. Mark was always pleased with how the Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris would silence and calm NG. It was the first time he actually saw NG respond to art and the ancient world. So like every good parent he brought NG often, sometimes just to let NG walk around, gazing up at the tall ceiling in its amazing stonework. Some days NG and he would sit and watch the sunlight play on the stained glass windows during certain times. NG would walk up and down the aisle, running his hands on the wooden pews. He would be careful not to disturb the patrons' silent thoughts. He always mindful of others in this place and showed the greatest of respect for their belief in this place built for their one god.

The Twins gasped with a soft "cool" when they walked in with NG and Mark. The two were a little awestruck at first until NG remedied that by taking them each by the hand. Leon walked gingerly at first. Mark read in his mind that he believed the shiny checked board floor was wet, it sparkled so. Jolein was too busy looking at the colored light from the windows to care about the floor. Mark stood back watching his children take steps into an unknown world full of wonder. It made him sad to know that every experience would not always bring them this kind of joy but he hoped that at least they could find some kind of wisdom in it. But for now their little faces lit up as NG guided them into the ancient past.

Mark closed his eyes, regretting his decision not to be home for more moments like this. He needed to be selfish though; otherwise he would never feel like he was a man. It seemed that most of his life he had been a piece of merchandise. Now that he had made a name of his own by himself, he was closer to returning home to have more time with his whole family.

Jolein turned around with a happy little girl smile, innocent of all his pain. She spoke into his mind, touching his heart. "Papa, come with us." She gazed at him with John's eyes and for the first time Mark saw how his little girl would look as a grown woman.

He held back the tears as he took long steps to catch up with his brood. He knew where NG was taking them, straight to the statue of Joan of Arc. The boy could never seem to get enough of her. "She heard the voice of God. He told her what to do to help her people. In the end, they burned her at the stake. Isn't she beautiful? Papa says she did what she had to for the greater good." NG titled his head up high, taking in every detail of the statue.

Leon watched his brother. He watched NG as if he was seeing something that no one else saw. Mark looked at NG but didn't see anything different. He shrugged it off as Leon trying to figure out what his little brother found so interesting about this girl. But somewhere in the back of his mind he dreaded what Leon really saw in NG.

NG spirited the gloomy feeling away with a giggle. He turned to the twins. "Now, can we see the gargoyles?" He smiled up at his Papa. Mark bent down to hug his three little people and replied. "Of course, why else are we here, if not for them!" He kissed them before he stood and led the merry group in a grand gargoyle hunt.

"I know that look, you are thinking too much." Ianto took a sip of his coffee while he watched Jack stare out to the street.

"The last time I was here was in 1960. It felt different then. I wasn't with someone I loved." He turned his eyes back to Ianto before biting into the pastry.

"Please, I'm not falling for the lines right now. Stop getting in the middle of Mark and John." He grabbed the pastry out of Jack's hand.

Jack growled but soon grew interested in the loving way Ianto finished off the treat. He sighed, frowning before he spoke. "Mark is being childish. He should just come home. I'm not just saying it for the kids, I… Torchwood can't protect him here. We don't know if he is safe, if the whole thing is over really."

"Jack, it has been over two years. What more can happen? Besides, what makes you think he would be safe in Cardiff? If John doesn't feel Mark couldn't take care of himself, who are you to say different? Let it go; besides the look in Mark's eye says he really wants to go home to John. But that should be up to him, not some big mouthed immortal with a god complex." Ianto turned his attention to the street. Paris was indeed a city to explore and it was better with the one you love. But what if the one you loved seemed to be preoccupied with other things? It was time to invoke some of the love this city was famous for.

"Right, that's enough of this. We are getting a boat and I'm going to show all the things one can do in a boat in plain sight of people passing by. Are you in the mood for a little sex in plain sight?" He watched Jack's eyes almost leave his head.

The check couldn't be paid fast enough as he grabbed Ianto's hand and dragged him down to the river. "Ianto, I thought you would never come around to my way of thinking. Honey, I think I love Paris, but not as much as I love you."

In the back of Ianto's mind this would be only a momentary distraction. Jack wouldn't let the idea of bringing Mark home rest until he had convinced his friend it was the best thing for all involved. Ianto would just have to do damage control like he always seemed to do.

_2 years ago…_

John held onto Ben after they were done. It was like this always. They came together in longing, held on for a little bit after but it ended with John getting out of bed in guilt and leaving after a quick kiss and "I'll call you" rolling off his tongue as he put on his pants.

John would leave feeling worse than before he got there. He would go back to the Hub to shower and then go check on the Twins. It was starting to weigh on him, this guilt of the old him facing the new him in the mirror. Then he would see the Twins sleeping like angels in their beds and he would lose himself to the sorrow and cry alone.

Mark would enter his mind at those lowest moments and mentally calm him with his love. Soon Ben ended the affair. John waited for Mark to come back.

As for Ben, he fell in love with Nick they way he should have done the first time he was with the doctor. But the complications of war and traveling to the future had left it impossible to pick up from that one moment when he knew his true heart. John had complicated it all by being so damn good as a lover. Ben was scared and John was a strong protective in a dark and sinister Universe. It was easy to see why a weaker lover was called a sex slave in the 51st century. You needed that protection and sex chased the fear away.

But now he was home, that need faded, as did his imaginary love for John. At least most of it was an idealized version of love. Ben was aware that he did have some real feelings for John, just not the practical ones he had for Nick. As Ben held Nick getting ready for their move away from Cardiff and the war zone, John lay alone in the dark, drifting away with his shaggy brown haired lover in the astral world.

_The present…_

Now, two years later, he was trying his best to cope without the man that for most of their relationship was nothing more than an extended fantasy that his lover's strong telepathic abilities created. But now alone in his bed he wanted nothing more than to bring Mark home and get to know him.

_End Chapter 3 _

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

As a mother, Jolein loved the fact that her son was headstrong and independent. But that didn't extend to her son as a father. He had his children visiting and to suddenly announce at dinner that he wouldn't be joining them that he had a 'business' meeting was not proper etiquette.

"Mama, he has to leave on family business and he wants to discuss terms about the contract." He checked himself in the mirror in the living room while Jack and Ianto pretended to watch the news. NG was sitting in the middle of them translating the news for them.

"NG, you are really amazing. Do you understand what they are saying?" Jack watched NG's face as he concentrated on the words that the newscaster was saying and following him with a few second delays on his part. He waited until the news finished to answer Jack.

"No, not really, Uncle Jack. Uncle Ianto, do you do horsey rides?" NG grinned widely at his favorite Uncle.

Jack snickered at Ianto. "Yes, I to would like to know if you do horsey rides. That is something we haven't…"

"Jack, lots of children in the room, two of them can pick up on mental images. Could you please keep that thought to yourself?" Mark's tone was firm but the grin said he understood. He was regretting leaving now. It looked like it was going to be a fun night of games. He wanted nothing more than to spend the night laughing with his family.

"And what is this contract exactly? Can't Silvia take care of that? It is what she is paid to do. Or is this something more? Can't you just have him come here?" Folding her arms over her chest Jolein stood braced to continue the argument. All eyes of the children and adults were on the mother and son.

"No she can't, mother. He is a subject and I have to get a feel for him." He saw Jack sit up just a little. "Not that kind of feel!" Jack pouted as Ianto smacked him on the head with a pillow. "I need to know if I can or even want to paint him. And all of you will take my full attention away from that. You are all a lot for the senses to deal with. I need a little peace for this. I will be back in two hours. Just in time to tell everyone a bedtime story. Would you three like that?" The Twins ran into their Papa's arms. "And here I thought you outgrew a bed time story. Your Daddy said you didn't care for them anymore." He hugged them tightly, not wanting to let them go.

"He is bad at it, Papa." Jolein confessed. "We love that he tries but he ruins the punch lines and makes them seem…" She looked to her brother for the better word.

"Military, they feel like a lesson in warfare or survival. A story should have all elements when it is an adventure. Daddy just isn't a romantic." Leon blushed when he said the last part.

"So we told him we outgrew them rather then letting him know how we felt. We don't want him to think we don't love him like you do." Jolein realized that came out of her mouth. Her hand went to stop her lips as her hazel eyes watered at her Papa's hurt look.

"I never said I didn't love him. Gods, you two, my leaving wasn't about that, it was about me needing to grow so I could be better and stronger for all of you. Back then I felt like I was just falling into a pattern with my life, maybe not like the past but I was leaning on your Dad rather than finding myself. I had to find a path that was mine, so I could come back to him with as much love in my heart as I have for you two. I love your Daddy as much as the day I first saw him. I think I love him more now that he isn't with me and I long to be with him. Soon we will all be a family again." He held them tight, feeling NG join in. He smiled at their capacity to return love. He was a fool for leaving home, knowing at some point they would want to understand. He hoped he had reached them at some level.

As Jack watched this moment he understood a little more of Mark's reasoning. But Jack was still going to have a talk with Mark. He wanted them to all return to Cardiff together and he would make sure of that. But how did one convince Mark to give up the ghost and return home?

"Okay Papa, we feel better now. We love you Papa." It was simply childish words that were spoken from not so simple children. But Mark knew they understood things about him a little better just by the way they smiled.

NG broke the ice by smiling a cleverly at Ianto. "So horsey?" The room laughed, even Jolein Sr. joined in, breaking out the wine handing a glass to Jack. They sat and watch Ianto play horsey as Mark slipped regrettably out the door.

* * *

The restaurant was dimly lit, almost a clandestine setting, making Mark uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if studying his client in the dim light was a good idea. Rethinking the evening, maybe the apartment would have been better. It would have been a little less first date like. He nervously sipped the wine while eyeing the menu.

Gerard spoke in English avoiding making Mark struggle to say the French words correctly. But Gerard's English was no bargain so Mark suggested that since he understood French, Gerard could talk that to him and Mark in turn would speak English. They soon had an excellent conversation happening between them.

"If I may ask, why is it NG is so bilingual for one so young? Silvia mentioned he was extremely intelligent. But he is only almost three. He seems so much older."

Mark swelled with parental pride as he spoke of his children. "They are all unusually bright. Leon was hacking into computer systems at NG's age and Jolein could grasp complex math problems. So NG having a talent like languages isn't too unusual for my brood. He isn't bilingual but multilingual. He has mastered five languages, one of them being Russian and is now trying Japanese." Mark smiled as the garcon refilled his water. He tried not to look at the shock on Gerard's face.

He coughed before replying. "They seem to be a handful. Where is their mother, if I may ask?" He was aware that this could be tricky, not knowing the full story.

"Actually it is father." Mark blurted out before he could think. He went for the water trying to not look nervous.

"Oh, I see. I'm hitting personal topics by the look on your face." Gerard was really looking at Mark's face because it was so beautiful.

"I'm use to people staring at me." Mark surprised Gerard by reading his mind. "Don't look so surprised; as an artist I am trained to see things in people and faces can speak more than a word. Take your face. It has breeding, I would venture. You take care of your face; that started with skiing. Your mother told you it would matter some day when you looked at what nature did to the skin. I think your eyes have a great concern for things around you and you're thoughtful to people, even those that knock you down chasing after a little brat." He smiled slanting his brown eyes.

Gerard coughed. "You're pretty good. So do you want to paint this weather beaten face?" Mark was making him smile and the wine was making him blush.

Before Mark could answer, the waiter came by and they placed their orders, Mark having just the soup of the day. When he left, Gerard spoke again. "Dinner is on me you could get more." He realized that Mark might just be a starving artist.

"That isn't it, I have to jog tomorrow and I really don't eat big, anyway. John was always pushing food into my mouth. He said I would slip between the cracks in the floor board if I didn't gain weight." He laughed until he realized what he just said. "Before you ask, we have separated since NG's birth. He takes the twins who come to see me often, though not much now that school started for them." He downed his wine, refilling Gerard's before pouring some more into his own glass.

"Does NG see him?" Gerard asked carefully.

"No, not since NG was born. Look, can we change the subject? This isn't something I wish to talk about. I'm the one that should be asking you questions." Mark laughed it off, not wanting to appear to be too evasive.

"Of course, I didn't mean to pry." He smiled and held his glass up to Mark. "To no hard feelings." They clanged glasses and Mark went back to discussing the work on hand.

* * *

They went for a brief walk after dinner still talking. Mark found it nice just to warm up to a new person. He liked making friends. John couldn't understand that about him being so cautious by nature, but he did love Mark for it. But it was getting late so Mark said goodnight, telling Gerard he would love to paint his portrait. They could begin as soon as Gerard came back to Paris.

Mark refused the taxi home that his client offered, saying he needed the fresh air to clear his mind before he had to face the dreaded bedtime story. They shook hands goodnight and Gerard got into the cab watching Mark round the corner. Overall, despite the mistake about bringing up Mark's personal life, Gerard found the evening pleasant with Mark being great company. He was glad that he would be posing for the man. It was going to be a nice treat.

For Mark he found himself humming random bits of things NG would sing as he made his way to his house. He didn't know how he ended up in the alley near the apartment or if anything was even wrong. All he knew was the back of his neck hurt as he made his way to his home. Being greeted by screaming children for story time allowed him to forget any concerns he may have had about his neck or his memory lapse. Soon all were asleep and Mark curled up in his bed and shut off the light.

* * *

His Papa's nightmare woke NG up. He climbed out of his bed, crawling next to Mark. He watched his Papa's face twisted as the nightmare progressed. Knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it; NG slid down under the covers and snuggled next to Mark. At least this way, the child thought he could give his Papa a little bit of comfort. "Maybe Papa will know he isn't alone and it's just a dream." The boy thought as he draped his arm over his Papa's chest.

Mark felt NG through the dream. Though he couldn't read the boy's emotions normally, he could for some reason at that moment feel the boy's concern and caring. But that was normal with parent and child. Mark didn't know what it was that made NG suddenly feel the need to react to this particular dream considering it wasn't the first time he had one.

NG could be getting some of his empathy back. But as wonderful to Mark as that may have seemed, right now was not a good place for a little boy to be. At this moment Mark's mind was a dark place with very many demons coming out of those black corners.

It was no surprise, some what expected because of the promise that was made in another such dream that Darby Asher was the cause of his nightmare. It wasn't long after Mark had killed Darby that the man was a specter in one of Mark's awakening dreams. The "creatures" had been responsible for those, part of the mental boosting they did when conditioning Andy to lay with them. Mark was well aware of these dreams. The only thing that made him nervous was that it had been almost seven years since he had one, stiff as a stone on a couch in the Hub after he had connected with the moonstone.

Darby was there in his freshly killed skin, tormenting Mark's mind as it awoke to the truth. And even as Mark was not yet allowed peace as Darby once again took on the role of tormentor.

"So you little bitch, you thought you could walk away and leave me buried in here along with your other mistakes. Well, since you are now questioning your decision to leave you family, I'm back, bigger and better than before."

He stood before Mark, healed of all wounds except for the gapping hole where his heart once was. Mark blinked at the open flesh in a chest that showed no movement. "It would move if I had a heart that could beat. Oh, but you smashed it into a wall didn't you? I don't think I can ever forgive that." He was up against Mark, with his ghostly breath tickling Mark's ear.

"You can't say you didn't deserve it for what you did to me. I still have those scars, you know. My Mother can see them when she looks close. But killing you gave me so much more, that somehow I have no guilt. What is it you want? Your presence better mean something or like so many bad dreams, I will just wake up and forget about it!" Mark pushed the corpse away and smirked.

"Why didn't you show me this rough side of you when we had sex? I would have loved for once that someone pushed me around a little. In my death you are still a turn on. Come on; let's get naked for old time sakes, you pathetic excuse for a human. Lying with "them" like they cared about you at all. You are and always shall be worthless!"

Rough hands were felt on Mark's body as the clothes were ripped away from him. He was naked as he was that first day in Darby's house. They were on him like hungry rats on a crust of bread, touching him, entering him, licking his body with dirty tongues. Mark was Andy once again sobbing for his Master, for Blue, for death to help him out of hell.

Out of the dark was a hand, a saving light in the hell that was his captivity. Darby came to him. He told the others that he was off limits. "I fancy him now." Mark felt the event again, the first time Darby chained him, held him down, hands of a stranger rubbing all over his body.

"Please, don't, I don't want this." Andy begged. Somehow when Darby took him the first time he knew then that nothing would stop it from happening again. He felt the new drugs Darby gave him to equal the pleasure he had from coupling with his Master's kind take hold. Even with the chains, the beatings and the drugs, Andy gave in, took on the name Mark Edwards and managed to like what he had with Darby.

Mark didn't even remember exactly when he let go of his old life once again an embraced the new one. He just knew that for now it was what he wanted as an easy way to ease the pain.

"You see, that little bit, loved me somehow. You say you love John, but you can't be with him. You killed me because you were in love with me. That made you ill, that I brought you to that level." Darby wrapped his arms around Mark's body, pulling him close to sniff his hair. "This is the you that you have been hiding; that animal, the one that enjoyed what I did for sport and profit." Lips pressed against Mark's back, exciting him.

"No, it wasn't ever like that, you have me confused with someone else." Mark tried to break free of Darby's grasp, but an image in front of him caught his attention. It was John.

"Do you think he will save you now? This is just the beginning of your journey back to my tender loving hands." Kissing Mark's neck Darby vanished, sending Mark back to the real world.

* * *

His head hurt from the dreams. Mark peeked around the blankets to see if NG was next to him. But the boy wasn't in the room. Strange, he remembered feeling NG under the covers. He sat up too fast, causing the blood to rush from his head and making him dizzy. He groaned a little as his head felt like a bit of dead weight resting on his neck. He stood up gently before he took large steps to the door to find out what trouble his two year old had gotten into.

He heard Jack's voice finish a sentence and the laughter of small children. He had forgotten that the twins were visiting. He also forgot Jack and Ianto were in the apartment. He opened up his door and put on a smile as he went to join them.

"NG, you should have woken me!" He kissed the top of the boy's head, repeating the gesture with the twins. "Good morning, everyone." He went for the coffee maker, reaching for a cup that was near the sink waiting for him.

"You didn't seem to want to get up Papa, so we let you sleep." Leon looked a little guilty as to being in his Papa's room.

"Oh you came into wake me?" Mark put down the coffee after he took a large swig and went after his oldest son. Leon howled with laughter as his Papa showed no mercy in tickling the boy. "You know the punishment for trying to wake a parent. Tickle torture!" The boy laughed himself out of breath.

"Papa, Papa me next!" Jolein jumped out of her seat and went after her Papa. NG soon joined in and the four of them came crashing to the ground. Jack could barely be heard over the children's shrieks.

"We were just waiting for Ianto to get back with Jolein. It is after ten already." Jack's tone was anything but warm. Mark recovered the triple assault and stood returning to his cup of coffee.

"Papa, can you take us to the park today? Please!" Jolein hugged Mark's knee with John's eyes shining up on him.

"Maybe later, right now Papa needs to shower. Jack, I'll be out in a moment." Jack nodded, aware of something not quite right with Mark. On his way to the bedroom Jolein came back with Ianto.

"Son, are you okay?" To Jolein it looked like Mark wasn't well, his complexion was ashen in color. To her it felt like his mind was somewhere else. She reached into his head just to back away physically, almost colliding with Ianto. She shivered at the amount of darkness she sensed in her son's mind at that moment. "What happened?" was all she could ask.

"A dream, Mama, nothing more than a dream. I'll be fine after a shower. My kids want to go to the park. I can't disappoint them." He stumbled a little before he made it to his bedroom.

The shower proved to do nothing more than to allow him to dwell on his dream. He scrubbed his body as he did the first time Darby let him bathe after the weeks of abuse Mark went through by his hands. Tears warmer than the water splashed and were lost with the rest of the drops that found their way down the drain. Like the last time he did this, Darby's touch wasn't disappearing. He could feel those hands rough on his skin and the taste of Darby's mouth on his lips. The smell of their joining tickled his nose. He fell down to the level of the tub in a ball and stayed that way.

Ianto was well aware that something was up with Mark as was the rest of the household. NG blurted out that his Papa had a bad dream, and he couldn't do anything but keep himself close to his Papa while he slept. "He cried out once, I didn't understand the words Papa used, Uncle Jack. He seemed to just sleep after that. So I got up and woke you and Uncle Ianto up. Somehow I forgot the why when I did, you seemed so upset, Uncle Jack." NG grinned up at his Uncle.

Jack blinked at NG for a moment trying to see if his eyes were looking at a little boy and not some alien life form disguised as a child. "Oh, I see. Does he have bad dreams often?"

Jolein Sr. answered the question. "Yes but not with the effect that this one had. Jack, his mind was dark like something evil somehow brushed over it." She forgot about the children being in the room. She also forgot that two of them would immediately go searching out their Papa's thoughts to make sure he was all right.

"Uncle Jack, Uncle Ianto. We can't find Papa!" The twins without thinking ran to Mark's room shouting for Mark. The adults were right behind them with only NG remaining in the room, confused by all the fuss.

Jack went to the sound of running water only to find Mark's naked form curled up as cold water hit his skin. Mark wasn't moving.

Ianto reacted by turning the water off and giving Jack a towel to wrap around Mark. He turned to get the children out of the room, finding NG peeking around the corner of the doorway. "Uncle Ianto is right. Jolein and Leon, we should stay out of the way." The boy found his Uncle's eyes and nodded. The twins in tears found comfort in NG's words and followed him to the kitchen.

They gathered Mark up, wrapping him in towels as his mother readied his bed. "Here, put this robe around him. It will keep him warm." Jolein brushed her hand against her son's cheek. "He is like ice." She said as they placed his body on the bed.

"I have the scanner with me. Let me get Anna on the mobile, maybe she can help. It almost seems like shock." Ianto left the room to get the scanner he had in his suitcase. He checked on the children before returning with Anna already on the phone. "They are eating their breakfast quietly. Someone should stay with them."

Jolein look at her son and felt his empty mind briefly before she went to watch the kids. "Take care of my son," she said as she left.

Jack was rubbing Mark down trying to get the warmth into him. "He must have been under the cold water for a long time. What happened to him?" He was pushed aside by Ianto as the man ran the scanner over Mark's body stopping to rest on his brain for a longer period of time. The scanner made a loud beeping noise, forcing Jack to look at Ianto.

"Jack, has Mark been doing drugs? I'm finding a large chemical dose of an unknown stimulant running through his blood stream." Anna said over the speakerphone.

"I don't know. I would say no to that if I were to make a guess. Whatever is happening, it is something recent. But what is your best guess at what the drug is?" He opened up Mark's eyes to see his dilated pupils staring up at nothing. Jack closed the lids moving to Mark's head and neck to see if there were any blemishes that would indicate any foul play. "Ianto, what were you just saying about Mark being safe?" When he didn't find anything there he went to examine Mark's whole body.

"Jack, that wasn't a very nice thing to say. We don't know if this has anything to do with Torchwood or Mark, it might be something simple. Anna, I'm taking a sample of Mark's blood. I'll send it over the read out on my laptop. Jack, anything on his body?" He watched Jack finish up between Mark's toes. "You don't think that someone came in a shot him up with something, do you?"

"There are insects from certain planets that can inject a narcotic like substance into a person. But there is nothing on him. Leave the scanner; I want to search his things. Anna, he is very cold." He wrapped Mark up in the blankets. Jack took the scanner as it was handed to him. Glancing once at Ianto while he took Mark's blood, he went back to looking at his friend's face before he got up to scan the room.

"I'll tell Jolein to take the kids to the park. I don't want them to be in the middle of this." Ianto waited for Jack to say something but all he got was a nod.

In the kitchen three little faces waited for news about their Papa. Ianto couldn't help but feel for these kids. Their lives would never be normal, not with their parents. It was almost impossible to determine what kind of problems they would have being the first generation of parents born in the 51st century, let alone with two of them being telepaths, living in this time. But every time something happened to one of their parents, all in the room would experience those scared little kid feelings. Right now it was overwhelming, so much that Ianto had to catch his breath before stepping in the room.

Leon was next to Jolein and they were holding each other's hands. NG was sitting on the floor leaning against the cabinet like a cat at play slowly rolling a little pink ball around. He was the first to catch Ianto's eyes. Ianto realized that that the boy's worry was all in those sharp hazel eyes. But those emotions that Ianto felt were coming from twins and Jolein Sr. NG for the most part was void of emotion. This bothered Ianto. The kid should be upset, instead he just played with the ball using his hands to stop it as with each back and forth motion.

Ianto found it hypnotic, almost soothing. NG was working something out, Ianto was almost sure of it. But exactly what was wrong, Ianto needed to ask the boy.

Jolein's lip quivered as she went to speak. "He is all alone in the dark, Uncle Ianto. Papa is alone." Sad tears rolled down soft little pink cheeks.

On the other hand Leon looked almost angry as he went to hug his sister. "Uncle Ianto, why is Papa in the dark?"

Jolein Sr. stood and walked to the window looking out on the inviting day that was supposed to be a happy one to build memories on, not make children cry.

"I don't know why, we are trying to figure that out. Jolein when you mean dark, do you mean asleep?" He went to the twins and knelt down between them, hoping that maybe their insight into their Papa's mind could help.

"He is in a void, a dark place that we can't go to. Uncle Ianto, he is scared, Papa is scared." Jolein was crying, tripping Leon's tears as well. NG still played with the ball.

"Okay, please don't cry, We'll bring him home, I promise. Now let's dry your tears." He reached for the towel on the hook behind him and gave it to Jolein who used it, wiping her tears away before handing it to Leon. "Now why don't you let Nana take you to the park and Uncle Jack and I will take care of your Papa? Go wash up and get your shoes on. Okay, sweethearts?" He kissed both of them before standing up.

As a mother, her child pain was great. Jolein Sr. felt Mark wandering in the dark, down places that were almost hellish with the pain and torment she could feel he was walking through. She was thankful that the children were too young to feel what was really going on. Mark was reliving some bad time in his life. She waited until the twins were gone before she whispered. "All this because of a dream he had?" She turned to Ianto.

"We think it was something else, someone did something, Anna said it is a chemical that is aiding in this. I don't know Mark's demons but when he first came to this time, he was a mess. Somehow I think he has these little rooms he has locked off so he doesn't live certain things over again. Did you know Mark contacted himself when John was with Darby? He also remembered a bunch of things that Darby did that I think he wished to stay buried. He didn't have time to deal with this; he was off with NG before he could."

Ianto heard the ball on the floor bounce as it got away from NG. The boy was looking at his Uncle. "I did this to Papa, I should have stayed with him while he slept. The dreams, the bad ones don't come when I stay with him. I heard you all up so I just left him." NG was staring at the floor.

Ianto blinked as he turned to see NG just sitting there. Jolein just watched her grandson feeling ashamed that she didn't think to check if the child was still there. Ianto didn't wait for Jolein to go to the boy he was drawn to him. Kneeling, his pulled NG's chin up and spoke softly. "NG, this isn't your fault. You are just a little boy, how were you supposed to know that you Papa would be hurt?"

He glared at Ianto with eyes that weren't of a little boy. Ianto felt a flinch at NG's look. The words were of a haunted soul, almost one possessed. "Because I knew, I just knew they were there waiting. They are always there waiting for us to take the wrong turn in our dreams. I was supposed to stop Papa from going down that path." He suddenly was this scared little boy, crying as his Uncle held him.

"It's okay NG, your Papa loves you and will find his way back to you. I promise he will hold you again. This isn't your fault. Listen, you can stay with me and we can talk to Aunt Anna, she is waiting for me to give her the sample of Papa's blood. Now let's put you in the chair for a moment." The boy kept crying loud enough for the Twins to become curious. "Jolein, take them out of here, I'll take care of NG. He is too scared to leave."

"This is the first time he has cried real tears, Ianto. There is something up with what he said, right?" She watched the young man set up the laptop for before she sighed. "I'll have my cell on. If I feel any change I'm coming home." She waited for him to say something to her.

"I think I know what might be the problem, Jolein. But you have to go. You and the twins may be adding to Mark's emotions right now, I can block. NG is safe and Jack is a blank canvas." He began typing rapidly.

"You are right." She kissed the top of NG's head, listening to the boy's sobs. The Twins sniffled but didn't cry any more as they were led away from the apartment. Jolein and Leon both let their thoughts of love for Mark enter his darkened mind.

"Maybe he can find his way back following those thoughts, Jolein." Leon spoke to his sister's mind.

"He will, Leon, he will." She smiled at her brother and then looked up at her Nana. "It will always work out."

End Chapter 4

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

"Where am I?" Andy yelled out when he woke in the dark cell. It was made of a faux stone, wet as if there was a nearby source of water. He rested his throbbing head on the surface trying to get some train of thought to click in his rather bruised mind. He was aching with need; his Master's touch was very far away from him. It was then he remembered that his Master, one of the greats of his race, was dead. He let out a howl as he was taught by 'them' to do in grief. But he also remembered that he had to be strong for survival was important, no matter what happened to him. It was rooted deep inside his being, guiding him to stand up and focus on what was now the life in front of him.

"_Ooen wlien lieen a moane Loyalwin." _He spoke to the wind, to the earth and to the heart he once was a part of.

He swore he wouldn't mourn him until he was given that luxury. Andy realized that he had to try to keep a level head so he could deal with the path in front of him. He was shaky as the withdrawal set in but he managed to stand using the wall for support. He stayed there for a moment before he pushed himself forward, taking small steps with uncertainty.

He steadied himself in the middle of the room. It seemed to be where the light was strongest. It was then he took inventory of what was left on his person. Maybe there was something he could use as a weapon. But that idea didn't get far as he ran his hands through his hair out of habit. It was short now, they had taken that long flowing mane of hair his Master had loved touching away from him. His Master's kind didn't have hair, and although they hated fur, Loyalwin had found pleasure in the texture of his mated one's hair. He encouraged the youth to grow it long and would spend hours arranging it with flowers from the fields where they would couple on warm days and linger through into longer nights.

He shook when the memories of their bodies and minds colliding together in sex left him longing again for the chemical fix that his Master gave him. He needed to couple and longed for his Master's kind to have him.

His wish didn't happen as the cell door opened and in walked five males of human stock. He was nervous at first; scared to be around his own kind again, it had been so long. But by the looks in their eyes, that hungry lust at the sight of a 'pet' a Master had trained, he knew what he had to do. His hunger was great as he removed his clothes and lay down on the floor while they took turns having him any way they saw fit.

* * *

He was on the floor making his body smaller as the light in the ceiling faded, bringing with it night and the cold. He heard the water then, dripping somewhere in the room. He thought he should find it and drink, but the dark was ice cold and even more foreboding as his stomach protested and he found himself throwing up what little food he still had inside. His human shape balled up making itself smaller and bending his already sore body from the abuse as the light above faded leaving him in the dark with nothing but the sound of dripping water and his own painful sobs.

* * *

John was ready. Without even packing a bag for himself, he went to fly to Paris with Anna. Jack was almost relieved when John said he would be coming with the doctor. There was more to this than was meeting Ianto's and his eyes and he was starting to believe they would need another pair. Jack also wanted to find Gerard and question him. Maybe there was something he saw or maybe he was responsible for whatever afflicted Mark. What if it was a date rape drug and something happened before he had a chance to do anything to Mark? Perhaps they were interrupted and Gerard had just left Mark alone and confused.

Jack checked Mark's eyes, took his pulse and wrapped another blanket around his friend before doing a search on Gerard with his wrist strap. Dan offered to help and was more than happy to fly out if there was need for an investigation. Jack said no, that he and Ianto could handle this with the addition of John and Anna so the remainder of the team should stay in Cardiff just incase something else went wrong.

"Something else always goes wrong, that doesn't mean I want to be here for it!" Dan joked, knowing Jack was being humorless at the moment. He knew his Boss well enough to see when the man was beating himself up over this. "Do you want me to get Nick over to you? He may be of help."

"No not yet, but it would be best to call Nick in to work just in case things went wrong on your end." Jack said to Dan. With Jack, Ianto, John and Anna gone, Dan was in charge. So he told Jack things were in the best of hands.

He smiled into the phone, thanking him for being the best of assets to his team. Dan laughed and ended the call.

"He doesn't like praise like that, Jack. You should know it only makes him blush and feel uncomfortable. I thought fatherhood would have taken that boyish geeky charm away. But little Jane just didn't seem to stop that." Ianto began to massage a little of the tension out of Jack's neck.

"You start that and I'll collapse right here." He patted one of Ianto's hands, letting out a sigh. "Dan hasn't changed and I love that about him. It means he hasn't let all of what Torchwood has us seeing ruin him to his core. Sally, Dan and Anna have always been very comfortable with this job. Gwen and you; I always worried about more. You saw so much too fast and Gwen was so innocent to it all. The two of you always wounded me when you got hurt by this lifestyle. It was mainly the emotional strain I would see on your faces and in your spirits. Rhys has been great for Gwen, letting him in was the best thing for her and I may add all of us. But you…" He leaned back as Ianto hit a bad knot, sighing just a little.

"Having you was the best thing for me, Jack. You have saved me on more than one occasion. And you know something? I love you more for it." He leaned over, finding Jack ready to accept his tender kiss.

"Marry me again and again, Ianto." Jack hummed as he took another relaxed kiss.

"I will and I would come back to do it all again, if I could. Jack, there is one thing." Ianto

reluctantly moved away from Jack. "I did find a trace energy pattern coming from Mark and leading out the door. I would like to follow it since Anna said there is nothing unusual in his blood. NG fell asleep on the couch. I shouldn't be long. Could you just keep an eye on him until I get back?" Ianto saw the horror in Jack's face for a very small instant before he softened against Ianto's lips again.

"Just be careful." He watched Ianto through his sleepy eyes as the other man left the room.

"Mark, your son is a hell spawn. He reminds me of you in a way. There is so much John in him as well. I can tell you, they are going to have problems with each other's personalities when NG has to live with John on a permanent basis. So may I suggest, wherever you went, you find your way home to them so they can have your understanding to bring them together? Otherwise they will never be able to love each other." He waited to see if Mark reacted. When seeing no change in his friend, he went back to examining the data they had collected so far.

* * *

A sleepy NG woke, wondering where his Papa was. After a point the memory flooded the over aware two year old mind, causing NG to sniffle a little. The child was still blaming himself for his Papa's condition and despite how soothing Uncle Ianto's voice was; NG knew that he could have stopped this if he had just stayed with his Papa during the dream.

The boy rubbed his eyes as his stomach growled. Sensing no adults around, he decided that he deserved a cookie. It was in the kitchen while munching a cookie that a face appeared on Ianto's laptop and spoke. "Hello." The man had on a scowl when NG peeked at the image trying to stay out view of the man. He was familiar to NG making NG automatically for some reason think the man was mean. .

"Ianto are you there? It's John."

NG peeked again before turning the screen around to face him. "Hello?" He said in German.

"NG, is that you? Oh dear, look at you and speaking German now as well. You are becoming very handsome. Do you remember me?" The boy was pouting, making John Hart think his son must being hurting bad with his Papa not well. John wanted nothing more than hold the boy and make it better for him.

NG's eyes narrowed when he recognized the man. The boy didn't like this face any more than the last time he had seen him. It was never nice to him. Somehow the man looked like his sister. "No, I don't." He waited for the face to say something.

John's eyes went wide. "I'm your Daddy, don't you recognize me? I know it has been a while but we just talked a few months ago. Come on NG, you are just teasing, right?"

NG blinked before replying. "No, I don't know who you are and what makes you think I want to? I have a Papa, not a Daddy and he is sick and it is all my fault! I don't like you, you are mean!" He stuck his tongue out at what he thought was a rude man and switched the laptop off, closing the lid. He then went to curl up on the couch feeling very alone.

Hearing NG yell from outside Ianto returned and found the boy curled up on the couch. He sat by the boy and rubbed his head gently. "NG, what happened?"

The boy in a very cold tone replied to his question. "I hung up on that man, he scared me."

Ianto closed his eyes and murmured an "oh crap" before he raced to the kitchen and saw that his laptop was off. Ianto swore he heard John yell from Cardiff even before he got to the laptop to turn it on.

"John, are you there? Sorry, I stepped out to follow an energy source that Mark seemed to have on him. It seemed to stop in an alley near the apartment." Ianto could tell that John was pissed at the boy.

"That boy is not mine! What the hell is wrong with him?" John screamed, causing Ianto to quiet him with a finger to his lips.

"NG thinks he is to blame for this. John, don't be angry with him. He is very upset right now and he doesn't act like a normal child. Please, let's get back to what I want you two to bring before you miss your plane. Sally is getting your paperwork ready so you can bring your weapons and equipment on the plane with you. Please don't get arrested like Jack did when he got here."

John's eyebrows shot up. "I guess we will save that for another time. Ianto is it bad? I mean, what do you think happened?" John waited for Ianto to speak.

"In theory, something trigged an opening in one of Mark's sealed off memories. I'm not quite sure what or whoever it is, but from what NG says, Mark is in a dark place. He mentioned something about 'you take a wrong turn and they are waiting.' I'm not sure what exactly that means." He typed in some things, sending the list over to John.

John's eyes shifted to the list before sending it over to Sally to gather. His eyes went wide with fear as he caught the last listed item. "What do you mean, mind probe? You aren't intending to use that on him again?" He was yelling at the top of his lungs.

Ianto sighed as he caught sight of NG peeking in through the kitchen door. "John, Jack requested it, just in case. We may need it to see if something may have been done to him. Like I said, I have to go over this energy signal; it seems very Vortex Manipulator in make up. Please, just stop getting emotional and get here soon." He noticed the temper flaring in John's face.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do. This is my family and I'm not going to bring that thing to use on one of them. So go to hell, Eye Candy!" John turned his back to Ianto picking the chair up and throwing it across the room.

Gwen was well aware of John in this state. His temper was easily triggered with Mark gone. Though it came in handy if they ran into trouble, she was missing the cold calculating John from time to time. That John seemed to take a holiday and was replaced with his more aggressive self more and more lately. 'The man needs to get laid; he needs Mark to come home.' It was a topic much in discussion within the team. After all, only maverick loose cannon types were the cogs in a well-oiled team, bringing with them failure. So she took measures to fix John's reaction before it cost them any more time in helping Mark. Also, she was getting sick of cleaning up broken furniture after one of his tantrums

"Easy John. Go pack. I'll finish this up with Ianto." Gwen reached for him, reluctantly placing her hand on his shoulder.

Ianto waited until Gwen turned to face him. "I think he needs to calm down a bit. I just hope he isn't like this at the airport. The last time he took a plane wasn't the best of things. Shame all the Vortex Manipulators are out of whack." She smiled.

"Well, I should have known better than for Jack to say that he could fix them. He has a habit of believing he is capable of doing things he really isn't. I swear I turned my back for one moment then BOOM - the smell of charred circuits filled the air. Wait, those things do use circuits don't they?" His eyes followed NG as the boy came up next to him to look at the woman on the screen.

"Is that little man next to you NG?" Gwen asked winking at NG.

He pouted at first but held his head up, dazzling Gwen with a bright smile. "Hello," he said shyly before he hid behind Ianto. "Is that scary man gone?" He asked quietly.

Ianto put his hand on NG's soft brown curls and replied. "For now, but we'll go over that later. You remember Gwen? She brought Jolein and Leon here the last time with her husband Rhys."

NG moved out from behind Ianto and smiled. "Rhys likes chocolate ice cream with cherries." He responded in Welsh. The boy was more comfortable as he move a little more away from Ianto. "Are you coming to help Papa?" His voice was so sad that it broke Gwen's heart.

"No sweetheart, but Aunt Anna is, and she is going to do everything to bring him back to us. Then you can come here and have ice cream with Rhys." Gwen calmed the boy with her return words in Welsh.

He liked Gwen that much Ianto understood, but the boy's face brightened when he heard that Anna was coming. Since it was decided that Mark wanted no contact with John until he was ready to come home, having NG meet his father from time to time became a problem. Anne came often to Paris to check up on Mark and NG so when NG was a year old, Anna took the boy to meet John in Normandy. It was a weeklong visit cut short by a situation in Cardiff that needed John's attention. NG was heartbroken over it. He cried all the way back to Mark. After that, John just didn't seem to find the time to spend with the boy. The bond that should have happened with father and son just never tightened. It would be a problem they would have for many years to follow.

But the boy loved Anna because she spoiled him. It became apparent that NG thought Anna was his mother and said so out loud when he could get his thoughts across. Ianto was with them having helped Anna with the Twins on a vacation they planned on the Riviera. It was one night that NG called her Mama, much to Mark's dismay. It wasn't a bad thing, the boy merely picked up on the flirting the three adults were having fun at. Mark didn't know what to do. NG was giggling and laughing, snuggling up between Anna and Mark as they lay on the lounge chairs together. But leave it to the Twins to ruin it by spilling the beans about NG's other parent.

"NO, NO, NO!" NG shouted. Screaming he proclaimed. "Anna is Mommy!" He had an emotional reaction that brought down the house and scared Mark and Anna when the boy was so devastated that he stopped breathing. Of course no harm was done, but NG never trusted people much after that, even if they did tell him the truth. But secretly he wished that Anna was really his mother.

Ianto thought of that moment as NG's excited smile played on his face. Ianto finished up with Gwen and decided to see how Jack was fairing with Mark. Thinking on how the boy looked earlier, he thought it would be best that NG join him. Maybe the boy would blame himself less if he could hold his Papa's hand a little bit.

* * *

Hands were on him again he could feel it. He could barely move this time as a weight forced him to stay where he was. The ground wasn't hard anymore. He could feel a more comfortable place than the cold faux stone floor he had fallen asleep on. It was then he opened his eyes to see a man standing over him. "Welcome to my world, my pet. I will teach you how you are to be mine in thought and body. Those I got you from said you have strong telepathic abilities as well. I can use that for business. We could become partners in many ways if you work for me. My gods, you have an amazing body and that face is perfect. But your old name won't do. Mark, Mark Edwards that fits you."

The man ran his hands over his naked flesh calling him "Mark" over and over again. "That's it, the perfect name for my beautiful new lover. Mark Edwards." He caressed Andy's cheek, feeling the shuddering body repulsed by his actions as Darby continued to say the name. Andy felt his need to join with the man grow from the hunger of his addiction.

"I can see you want something for the need, a quick little boost. But first say your name."

"Andrew, Andrew Perry! Please just kill me! I don't want to feel like this anymore!" He pleaded with his new Master to bring him peace as his body moved with longing.

The shock from the restraints was painful; he could feel the electric pulse spread through his body making his mind scream out. His captor was on top of him in his listless state doing things to him that his Master had done, but it was different. It was crude, base and full of primitive need. Andy sobbed as he let this man have his way. There was nothing he could do but ride it out to ease some of his cravings away for just a little bit.

* * *

Time and hunger changed his mind to serve Darby's purpose. One day as Darby did his thing with him Andy made a choice. Being cold, hungry and sick from lack of 'the Creatures' narcotic secretion he asked Darby to say his new name when he climaxed. Darby took it as a sign that the boy was weakening, so he did, Andy releasing for the first time since the abuse started. Afterwards, Darby was tender as Andy spoke his new name and warmly kissed Darby back. He smiled at his new master before the cold of withdrawal took hold as his pleasure subsided.

The chemical need was still strong as he needed to feel his Master's kind of coupling or his pain would just get worse. He was shaking again, raising his hips up and down almost breaking his chains off.

"_Survive, bury all you are somewhere deep and don't let that part out again."_

"Please, my master, Darby, my love, I need more than this. Help me so I can better please you." He was ready again for Darby to have him. Mark was letting tears run down his cheeks exposing his weakened state to this mad man.

Darby fell hard for Mark that day. The twisted psychopath took pity on his beautiful new toy. "I have something that will ease this, but over time your abilities will lessen. By then I may find a way to get you off the drugs altogether. Right now, the only other way to be free of them is for me to give you this every day for the rest of your life."

It was a small hypo spray. Darby turned Mark's head, gently kissing him before injecting the chemical right into his brain stem. Mark's eyes glazed over as he drooled a little, feeling his body relax. "Thank you," he mumbled as he floated away for a moment. When he came back moments later, Darby had his chains undone and was escorting him to get cleaned up.

After some food that Mark couldn't keep down this one time, Darby curled him up with him in a real bed and let the young man sleep in his arms. To Mark it was heaven.

_End Part 5 _

_TBC_


	6. Chapter 6

Mark's slight movement made Jack's eye stray from the laptop Ianto had placed before him. NG had positioned himself on the bed, holding his father's hand and just watching his Papa sleep.

"Did you see him move, NG?" Jack asked the young boy.

"Yes, he did, I think the dream turned somewhere. Uncle Jack, is that man really coming here?"

"Yes NG, he is your Daddy; you are going to have to accept that. What do you mean, a wrong turn?" He didn't look at the child but watched the screen comparing the energy reading found on Mark and the alleyway to information in Torchwood's database.

It wasn't long until it matched the source. Jack blinked a few times before swearing out loud. NG looked up from his Papa, watching his Uncle get more agitated at what the data revealed. It was traces of moonstone energy. "Ianto get in here, please!" He got up, resting the laptop on the floor as he scanned the room for the second time.

"What is it Jack, did something happen?" He smiled at NG as the boy watched his other uncle start going through Mark's drawers.

"It didn't show up before, but it is now. Ianto, the energy is from the moonstone." The signal from his Vortex Manipulator grew stronger as he came close to Mark's dresser. The sound grew louder as he moved to the left side, facing one of the smaller drawers on the top of the piece of furniture. It was Mark's sock drawer. Jack rummaged through it before retrieving the moonstone from the far back.

"How did he get that out of the Hub?" Ianto seemed confused. "It was under lock and fifteen security codes in the safe in your office." He was by Jack's side in a moment.

"That's what I thought. Seems Mark wasn't leaving home without it." He held it to the scanner, picking up the faintest trace of power. It was dead as far as he could tell.

"Loyalwin said its usefulness was used up when Mark used it for the last time on the Candorms. So what is it doing now?" Ianto looked at the reading carefully.

"It is his good luck charm." NG began, not taking his eyes off the moonstone. "Papa wears it for luck and protection. He told me that I shouldn't be scared of it, that it wasn't important. But I am scared." NG was continued to stare at the stone dangling from the silver metal chain.

Jack watched the boy for a moment before putting the stone into his pocket. "Well NG, it isn't worth being scared over. Just a stone, really." _'A stone that changed you somehow.'_ Jack thought to himself.

Ianto was aware of how tense NG was getting and thought it best to try and get the boy out of the room. He put up a fuss, saying his Papa needed him to stay right where he was. So Ianto ushered Jack out of the room to have a little chat with him.

"I think we should keep it away from NG. Wasn't it Mark that didn't want NG to know any of his past?" Ianto asked.

"I was thinking the same thing. But right now Mark is the only one who knows why he took it. My suggestion, call Jolein and have her take the Twins to Silvia. I don't need them underfoot right now. John and Anna should be here soon. Lets see if we can get NG away from his Papa before then. John's coming here is going to disturb the boy enough. Lets not make this any more dramatic than we have to be. Do you still have that sleeping aid and did you bring it with you?" He rubbed against Ianto as his husband shot a look of horror.

"Jack, I'm not going to drug him. He is just a baby! I think toys can distract him and Anna knows how to deal with him if that doesn't. NG really is a nice kid, just a little off. Can you blame him? He was born early because he was exposed to that stone. And John and you were giggling over that thing when Mark showed you he had it. I'm still bothered by that little show. That thing is nothing but a curse. Mark is laying there because of it." He huffed at Jack, being frustrated that his husband would be so mean to a child.

"Ianto, the kid speaks five languages fluently and is a monster of deception. Shiny objects and a pretty mobile overhead will not work on him. A strong a sleeping aid will. So for all of us before he gets upset at John being near Mark, dose him please?" Jack reached for Ianto grabbing his hand, rubbing it gently to reassure him it would be all right.

Running his hand through his hair, Ianto agreed. "You are making me older than my years, Jack. I hope you don't mind the years you chop off of my life every time you ask me to go against my principles, which thanks to you are being whittled away at as well." He left Jack standing there while he went to get the medication out of his suitcase.

Ianto went into the kitchen to make a cup of cocoa for NG so he could hide the drug. He smashed up one half of a tablet, hoping it wasn't overkill for a little boy. Thinking maybe that was too much; he pushed half of the new powder away. He stood by and waited for the milk to get warm before adding the cocoa he found in the cabinet. He saw some cinnamon and pinched a little bit of that in. For a brief moment the smell from the warming liquid made him forget the sinister act he was just about to do.

Knowing he would be in Ianto's doghouse for a few days after this stunt, Jack returned to Mark to find NG still watching his Papa. "He took another turn, Uncle Jack."

"Good NG, maybe your Papa is coming back home now." Not good if the boy couldn't tell where he turned to or how to bring his Papa back to the living. It was worth bringing it up to the others later on about NG's perceptions with dreams. They needed to understand if this was part of what happened to him or if it was that his natural abilities were awakening. Jack was told by Mark that the kid had no emotions, but he cried, well got sad or was it more a feeling state than a reaction? The boy smiled but he does he understand happiness or is he sensing what he thinks they want to see from him. Either way the boy was going to have to have some sessions with Nick when they got back. If anything, just to get him to fit in better. So now as Jack watched the boy, his fitting in was more wishful thinking than a possible reality. NG was just not normal.

It dawned on Jack at the moment that Mark might have taken the moonstone for more than a good luck charm. He might have been trying to fix NG as well. Once again all those answers were locked in the mind of a man that was in another place within a dream. By the look on NG's face, that place was very far away.

* * *

John Hart grunted at the security guard's caution with the strangely dressed man. The French officers were taking their time processing Anna and him, even though their paperwork was in order. The guard simply didn't like the look of John and he was making sure John understood that in the form of delaying them.

"John, patience please." Anna pleaded. "I don't want get jailed for the first time in my life in Paris. That seems criminal to come to one of the world's most beautiful cities just to sit in jail because of a hothead like yourself. We'll get to him, don't fret so." Anna tried to calm the 51st century man before he used the French security guards as target practice.

John grunted again as he saw Eye Candy approach the guards. Ianto whispered something to the head guard. The head guard smiled and nodded, waving John and Anna to come forward. He said something to Ianto in French as he stamped their passports.

Ianto thanked him with kiss to each cheek, helping Anna by first.

"What the hell was that about?" John asked.

"You look like a guy that Interpol posted as a wanted terrorist this morning. The airport was told to call me if they had questions. So I came down and answered them." He led them to the SUV he had waiting already full of their equipment and suitcases.

"How did you manage to get all the gear stowed in the SUV?" John asked, shocked at Ianto's thoroughness.

"Trade secrets and don't ask again. We had to knock NG out. He wouldn't leave Mark in the state he is in. The kid was glued to his Papa's side. I hate Jack sometimes for being right. But the poor kid. He is too young for any of this."

"In other words, you didn't want him to see me just yet. He hates me, my own son hates me." John said as he helped Anna into the back seat.

"John, you are still a gentleman, you just have to show that side to NG. He was rather shell shocked from your first encounter with him. I'm sure he will come around. Ianto, where are the Twins?" Anna opened up her notepad and began to read the recent data that Jack had provided her with.

Ianto started the SUV up and pulled out onto the road. "Jolein took them to stay at Silvia's. We can be safe in saying that it wasn't an outside source that caused Mark's condition. Mark borrowed the moonstone from Jack's safe." He stopped at the cross walking letting an older man go by.

"Oh dear, what was he thinking? Don't answer; we don't know what he was thinking." John bit his lip as he glanced at bits of Paris passing by his window. He was upset over Mark enough already. John also was breaking the rules. Mark asked John not to come unless Mark asked him to. Well Mark wasn't around to yell at him. But when Mark was John would consider his Lovely's fury to be the best sound he had ever heard. As long as Mark was around to scream, then John would be happy.

The roads were quiet today so getting to the apartment didn't take long. It was only when John got out of the SUV and began to help Ianto with the equipment that he began to lose his cool. But Mark always made him weak in the knees, ever since the first time he saw him dancing around waiting tables in that restaurant. He just hoped that He would be able to see that smile he fell for so long ago grace the lips of the man he was hopelessly in love with.

* * *

"You feel so good." Darby sat at the edge of the bed running his fingers through the sweat on Mark's back. "I have a surprise for you. I've decided to let you work for me. Would that make you happy?" He leaned over, licking the spot between Mark's shoulder blades and making him moan lazily.

"What would make me happy is if I could see my parents again." He screamed as Darby bit him.

"Out of the question and don't ask again." He carefully rubbed the spot, trying to ease the red swelling. "You see what happens when you anger me, I hurt you. Now turn over."

No sooner did Mark obey then Darby had his lips. "Don't make me mad again." But as soon as Darby saw Mark's sad eyes that he made a promise to his new lover. "You and you beautiful eyes have convinced me to at least find them and get word you are alive. Will that do?"

Mark sat up and smiled, bringing Darby into a kiss that went straight to his toes. "Gods, you are a marvel. But we should get ready. They are bringing me a new client today. I'm sure I will get even more excited once I start working on him. So I need you to respond for me. I also want you in his head. Tell me when I'm close to getting what I want. If he lies, let me know. Oh, one other thing." He pulled Mark into his arms, kissing his neck softly. "If he is near death, bring him back to me. I like to play a bit before I let them go. You can sense death, right?" He pulled back, searching Mark's eyes.

He couldn't lie to Darby. He knew Darby would hurt him or worse yet, deny him the drug and their sex. "Yes, I can and I will let you know. May I shower before we get started?" He smiled trying not to retch at the thoughts he glimpsed at in Darby's head. What Darby didn't know was that Mark could see right into his mind. The drug was slowing down his abilities but such violent lusts that Darby would project would penetrate even the thickest of inhibitors to an Alien altered mind.

"Sure my love, go and make yourself presentable. Oh, just wrap that blue Peine cloth I got you around your body. Leave the shoulders exposed. I want to be excited for this and you in that cloth does that very nicely. Maybe we could perform for our guest. I was thinking that we should share our fornicating with others. I have a particular person in mind. He needs to be taught a lesson when he returns home." Darby kissed Mark roughly before pushing him towards the bath.

Alone finally, Mark took a long look at himself in the mirror. He was thinner and the haircut bothered him still. I was over a year since he had come to live with Darby and even then the man in the mirror wasn't quite him. It was still a stranger behind some haze that was his mind. He went around to the shower and turned the water on hot. That was a ritual to scrub him self clean, trying to remove the filth that Darby covered him with. Now he was asking more of him, evil stuff he would have to watch. He knew all about it though, he was in Darby's mind enough to see what it was that really got him excited. Mark was thanking the Gods that Darby never hurt him that way, never a blemish to his skin. But he knew that his marks were on the inside, and very carefully administered. All the things that Darby made him do, all the electrode punishments sending pain through nerve endings but never enough to damage muscle movements. Mark after all must be the perfect body for his lover.

The steam covered his face in the mirror, removing this man from sight. He didn't know whom he was any more for the reflection to matter. He asked about his parents because he wanted to know that someone was there to remember Andy. He thought maybe Blue did, to some level. If Blue thought he was dead then he more than likely had just moved on with his own life. Mark smiled, knowing Andy would have been happy for him.

It was in the steamed up mirror that Mark began to draw, he had forgotten about this talent and let his mind take over his finger as it moved to create lines and shapes. For a little while he let himself channel Andy again. Free from Darby, he figured out how he would deal with this, hoping that someday he could rid himself of Darby for good. It was than that Mark decided to start to move behind Darby's back.

The worst part about it all was that Mark was falling for Darby. It seemed right that he should. After all, it was a matter of survival and Darby could be persuaded to give him a little more freedom as time marched on. Maybe he could be a runner like some of the others in Darby's employ. Runners could leave the house, find things Darby needed and as the definition went, run errands for the Boss. At some point given a chance to convince Darby enough that he wasn't going to leave him because he loved and wanted only him, Mark might be able to get his freedom back. Getting off the psychotropic drugs was another goal. Mark stepped back, looking at his drawing of an angel flying over a field of flowers and smiled. He watched the steam erase it before stepping under the water. It was then he remembered who the angel was, letting the water cover his tears as he wept for his Master that he loved so.

* * *

John noticed NG sleeping on the couch and went to his son. His feelings were mixed as his emotions caught up to him. This boy wasn't like Jolein and Leon. NG was rushed, born too fast and stripped of his gifts that his Papa's genes were to have given him. He was a lost spirit and no matter how much they tried, John felt it would never fill the gap between him and the rest of the family. But John vowed as he smoothed back his son's curly hair that he would try to work out his difficulties he was experiencing with NG.

There was just so much he could do; the boy would have to meet him in the middle if it were to work. Somehow he knew that the day they would hold each other and be father and son was a long way off.

Anna glanced at the boy but didn't stop, heading straight to Mark's bedroom. Jack was sitting in the easy chair with a laptop on his knees, his hand resting on his chin in thought.

"Anything new?" She asked as she went to touch Mark's face. "He really is ice cold. His eyes aren't as dilated as when you first sent me the video and there's only a slight change in temperature." She got out her scanner.

"That is because NG said he took another turn through the dream state. Did Ianto tell you that we think this is self inflicted?" He looked up as John entered the room. "From what I have been piecing together, this may not have been the first time this has happened here. NG is a wealth of information before he slipped off to sleep. Mark had been trying to find a way to reach NG through dreams using the moonstone. Though NG didn't put it that way, exactly. But he did say Mark wore it when they went to sleep and he was wearing it when he left other night. But what it is exactly that he was doing is unknown. NG said that he connected with Mark a few times in his sleep." Jack rubbed the top of his head with frustration.

John sat on the bed, reaching for Mark's hand as Anna continued to scan Mark's brainwave patterns. "Do you think the moonstone had something left or is Mark on a hunch that maybe he can use it to heal NG? Jack, I hate to say this but Mark really can piss me off. I'm starting to think that in a way we were conned here. He not only needed time alone. But the jerk has taken it upon him self to try and fix NG. His guilt made him leave home to work with our son. What is it with you, Lovely that you can't trust us to help?" He rubbed his cheek. "Now look at you, lost in some forsaken part of your mind." He regretted those words as he took in Mark's face. So beautiful in his appearance but Mark's mind was another matter. It was cunning, clever and trained to survive. "Damn, I love you too much." John leaned in, kissing Mark tenderly.

"The handsome prince can't wake the beauty that way, John. But I may have another way." Jack stood up and stretched out his arms. "I need a drink and a bathroom break. Not in that order." He left the room.

John watched Anna work on Mark. He assisted her with setting up the equipment. When they had finished the quiet room was whistling and beeping with the sound of machines monitoring every function of Mark's very being.

"Now all we do is wait. What do you think Jack meant that there may be another way of waking Mark?" Anna watched as John swiped at a stray strand of hair that fell loosely on his far head.

"Don't know really, it could be anything." John stopped talking. To Anna it was as if he was concentrating all his energy to searching Mark's mind. With nothing more to do right now, she left the machines in charge of monitoring Mark, giving John a little time alone with the man he had not touched in almost two years.

* * *

"So Gerard left the country?" Jack asked Ianto as he began to make lunch.

"That would be the case. I stopped by his store before heading out to the airport, the one Silvia said he left as an address and the girl said he would be back at the end of the week. Something tells me he had nothing to do with this." He looked at the flame on the stove. "You may want to lower that or the butter will burn." He smiled at Jack's growl before going to make more coffee. "We really have to cut back on this brown liquid we have been using as a substitute for our blood. Someday, it will kill us." Ianto laughed a little.

"Easy for you to say!" Jack laughed. "Researching Gerard led me down the same path. He's just a man that wants a talented artist to paint his picture. Now what do you think of my theory with Mark? You never did give me your input." He lowered the flame again as he started to chop the onions and garlic. "Put the big pot on with some water please. Thanks."

Ianto placed the pot on the stove but not before the he had to brush into Jack to get the job done. "Is there anything you don't turn into foreplay?" He questioned his husband.

"My you Mr. Jones-Harkness are a bit testy today. Yes, there are plenty of things I don't turn into foreplay." He pursed his lips growing impatient at Ianto evading his question.

"I know where this is heading and I don't like it. You have this habit lately of cooking when you think you've stuck your neck out too far with an idea. That is starting to bother me." He watched as Jack's eyes bugged out. "Oh, very well then. It was good, just not the whole thing. That moonstone, his mother and you are the only things that connect him with the past. The moonstone has given him strength. He killed to save it. So I think he is not only trying to find what NG lost, but also something he needs that is to be strong. You have to admit; leaving John Hart's security blanket as well as all your friends to start again is very frightening for someone that never really lived alone. So he needed his talisman back."

"That's good. Too good, perhaps." He watched Ianto out of the corner of his eye as he cut up a green apple. "He asked you to get it out of the safe then?" He looked at Ianto's dumbfounded face. "I'm not mad, just if you are going to be an equal partner in this venture, no more half truths or going behind my back. If you make it an order, I will be the first to obey. Now come here and wrap your arms around me and kiss my neck while I cook lunch. And yes, this I do consider foreplay!" Jack grinned, as his eyes became happy slits at Ianto walking towards him. Even in years to follow, long after Ianto's death, Jack would remember little bits like this.

"You make me happy, just the little things. I love you Jack."

_End Chapter 6_

_TBC_


	7. Chapter 7

There wasn't much left of the young man in either body or mind when Mark let go of his thoughts. Darby was covered in blood and other fluids before he left the playroom spent and exhausted to sleep off the euphoria. Mark was left to clean up the mess. That included the young man.

"His life is yours now. Take it, if you want." He kissed Mark deeply with lips that somehow were covered with the man's blood. Darby sauntered naked out of the room seeking a bath and bed. "I have a guest coming, that friend I mentioned a while back. Seems he was busy all this time. Let's give him a pleasant stay as well. Greet him, but no matter what don't let him touch you. That is one sin I won't let slide, Mark!" He yelled as he disappeared down the hall.

Mark wanted to be sick, but somehow after all this he didn't think it was respectable to do that in front of a dying man. When he first saw the man, he thought him handsome, athletic and with dark hair and his olive skin tone. He was taller than Mark and that made him uncomfortable. But the shock collar worked for that first part of getting the man's complete attention. Once Darby started, height meant nothing and the screaming and whimpering made the man seem less threatening.

"You aren't like him, are you?" It was faint and choked but the almost corpse spit out those words. Mark tilted his head at Darby's handiwork in carving up the piece of meat that was once a man. It left an impression on the eyes and burned the image into his mind.

"Here, let me get you some water." He left the room to get the water from the fountain outside the door. He was sick in the sink when he noticed Darby's bloody footprints trailing a pathway down the hall. He washed his face and got a cup out of the dispenser.

The man's breathing had quickened. Death was closing in on him and he was struggling against it. Mark held the water up to his lips and carefully dispensed it so the man wouldn't choke as it mixed with the blood that rose into his mouth.

"No, in your eyes, I can see you aren't like him. I should never have crossed them. I thought that I could cheat them and they would never find me. Their eyes are everywhere. My wife and child, I killed them myself once they found me. I knew…" He coughed up more blood. Mark gave him more to drink. "That he would work on them first as I watched. Did he torture a child in front of you yet? Would you let him? What are you to him?" The man looked more alive now for some reason as if Mark's answers mattered somehow. He watched as Mark again put the water to his lips all the while looking into the face that was more angel than monster.

"I belong to him. He owns me; where he got me from I don't talk about. I have been helping him with this for a year and half, now. I don't think I could handle him hurting a child. But I'm not allowed those thoughts. I don't think you should struggle anymore. This plight is useless. There isn't much left of you. He did so much damage, just for such a small piece of information. But it is almost over with, your life is slipping away." He stroked the man's hair, showing him comfort. "I will do you one favor." He gave the man one more drink as he kissed his lips. "Is there any message you want me to give anyone before I help you to join your wife and child?" He took some water with his cup hand and cleaned the man's face. 'No one should die with a dirty face.' He was rationalizing. This wasn't the first one he was allowed to kill. But this was the first one that had the strength to ask him things. It was also the first one that told Mark his story as if he was confessing before going to meet his maker.

"No one, but thanks for showing compassion. You are one full of mercy. So at least he didn't take that way from you, right?"

Mark smiled, liking this man. But he needed one more thing before he dispatched this human out of the lands of the living. "Can I have your name, so I can think about you from time to time? This way I can keep you alive, I can be that someone that will remember you."

"Joshua, my name is Joshua. My advice to you…" He took a deep breath as he struggled to keep air in his punctured lungs. "Find away to get out of here. You don't belong here." It was time, the man gasped for air. Mark was quick and with a small thought told the man's mind to shut down and free his spirit. His body followed behind it and the light left Joshua's eyes forever.

Mark cried for real this time. He knew it was folly, it was meaningless and he needed to clean the remains up and greet Darby's guest. But would it hurt if he just cried for a little, remembering that this dead worthless hunk of flesh was once a man that had a family that loved him? He rose and summoned the cleaners. They were a dirty race of a non-pronounceable name that lived on the fresh kills that Darby provided. They greeted Mark, thanking him for the feast and promised to make the room shine after the meal.

Mark turned away in disgust, not wanting to hear them break bones and slurp up the blood with hunks of flesh like bread with soup. He needed to clean himself up and wait for the visitor. For now, Joshua would be put in to the back of his mind until he had the time to think about him and mourn the man.

* * *

Silva watched the Twins as they played a game of cards. It was too quiet for them. Leon cheated a lot at these games. She assumed by what Ianto had once told her about Jack, that the boy picked up "tricks" as he called them from the dashing Captain. So by now Jolein should have been calling him on his cheating with the shrill voice of a six-year-old girl. But this much quiet for them was too much for her, so she went on the balcony to have a smoke and watch the sunset.

Jolein Sr. found her watching the colors in the sky, bumming a cigarette off of the gallery owner, she joined her.

"I didn't know you smoked?" She lit the cigarette for the older woman.

"I don't, well not in a long time. But sometimes it is fun just to have one. They are too quiet." She watched Silvia stare out into the distance.

"I know, that is why I came out here. I want them to make noise; they are kids and need lots of fun. Not much of a vacation for any of you." She took a long drag exhaling out to the approach of night.

"To tell you the truth, I was hoping to be out of here before they arrived. I'm agitated enough with Mark because he won't just go back to John. But I really doubt his wisdom in removing NG from John's life. Now when I see how much those two love their little brother, I feel like slapping some sense into him." She paused to take a puff before she continued. "It is nerve racking. I didn't have my child for so long. I was just going day by day with nothing but that pain that all my children were gone, that the universe played horrible tricks on us. I was planning to die alone. Everyone I knew and loved was gone."

She watched the last remains of the sunset color the sky. "But you know something? I couldn't part with Andy's things. When I lost my son and daughter, Andy was such a prize to me, always making me smile. When he was gone I kept it all just to be around those traces of his smile inside everything he touched. God, Jack was such a mess when I found him that day. I don't think I ever saw what it looked like for someone to have his heart ripped out. He was so lost without Andy, so riddled with guilt. My husband just went at him, beating the poor boy to the ground. Jack took it, crying the whole time. We never saw him after that day. I think he left for the Time Agency soon after he gave us the news. But I kept it all, every shred of my son's life. The happiest I ever saw him was when Jack was around. That was, until I saw him look at John and his children. It was worth my pain to see his happiness with his family. But now he better just come back, I don't want those kids to feel what I felt."

"God, that is heartbreaking. You should write a book, tell it all. That is the best way to help stories like that along the paths of time." Silvia put the cigarette out, getting ready to go back inside. "For what it is worth, you did right with Mark, he really is a great person. But I understand why he did what he did, leaving John that is. I also know that it breaks his heart to be away from them." Jolein shot Silva a look of jealousy. "Yes, he has been talking to me. We have gotten kind of close. Jolein, he needs space, maybe you don't see it that way, but from he told me about his past, he needs this. He is lucky that John isn't going anywhere and the Twins are doing fine. Except for now they need their Papa back in one piece." She watched the older woman for a moment before rubbing her hands over her arms. "Well it is getting chilly, let's mull some wine, eat a little cheese and cheer up those very adorable grandchildren of yours." She put her arm around Mark's mother and led her back into the house. "I think it is time to get dirty and let those kids finger paint a bit. I may be a gallery owner now but I was once an art teacher." She smiled as she saw the children still playing cards.

"So a failed art career made you a teacher." Jolein smirked, feeling a bit smug for a moment.

"No actually, I just wanted to live in Paris. I quit the job and just packed up and left. So I know what it is to just start from scratch. I saw that in Mark when I first met him painting by the Seine with NG in a basket. I was wondering what this guy was doing with a baby painting what he saw in front of him. Then I saw the painting. When he finished for the day, he picked NG up and cradled him so carefully, making the boy giggle. My god, he was so wonderful." She stopped talking as she saw four eyes watching her, waiting for her to finish the story.

"Papa, used to take us to paint as well. He would bring us to his studio and we would watch him for hours. Mainly we were with Torchwood. Uncle Jack and Uncle Ianto took care of us, along with Uncle Nick and the others. But it was always Papa that was there when it mattered. NG is lucky he had Papa all to himself." She looked at her brother who smiled.

"Did it bother you when he left with NG, Jolein?" Her Nana asked.

"Yes and no. Daddy explained it this way. We all have a path to take as did Papa and his was taken away from him. He has a right to try to walk on it again. I never imagined that Papa would leave us forever. Now I'm not too sure." She frowned a little, patting Leon on his head.

"Oh come on Jolein, he will be back, you have to believe that. It is like Papa told us. We just have to hope and we can achieve anything. My hope is Papa comes back, and he will because he wouldn't leave us like this. Besides, NG wouldn't let it happen, he is watching the dream." Leon looked up at the shocked faces of the adults.

Jolein's eyes went wide as she looked at her grandson before she asked. "Leon, explain to me exact what it is that NG is doing so I can tell Uncle Jack how to bring your Papa back."

* * *

"He still has good taste. My, you are yummy. If you just let me pass, I can find my way to Darby's room." Sebastian fluttered his eyes at Mark. Mark's hairs on the back of his neck stood up as goose bumps ran down his arms. This man was gross. Sebastian loved the smell of fear that dropped off the young man. Mark was better action then he had gotten since he left Darby. But now he had come home to his lover and it was time to share the new toy. He moved in closer to Mark making him recoil, backing away from the man.

"I don't think he would like that." Mark stood tall narrowing his eyes at the gross man. For his very presence radiated evil beaming horror from two black as night eyes. Mark stood his ground. Darby said not to let him get pass the main room.

"I don't care what you think." He snarled, moving his body closer to Mark's personal space. "This is still my house. I will do what I want." He pushed past Mark and headed to the doorway.

A split second of underestimating the youth with the wavy brown hair was all it took for Sebastian to be on his knees. "You poisoned my drink?" He forced his body to move towards his attacker.

"Darby would have my head for that. No, I merely gave you a paralyzing drug in your drink. Swoetance, I believe it was. It should, mind I say should, wear off in a little bit. It should be just in time for Darby to greet you him self. Sit now and be patient, I'll be back." He patted Sebastian on the head and went to find his lover.

Sebastian was furious when Darby came into the room with Mark sometime later. He was ranting that his pet should be caged. He was rude and disrespecting to him.

"Darby, I told you once that your habit with these things should be limited. I come back here after hearing these rumors that an animal stays in your bed." Dragging his body across the floor he willed it to flop into the chair, trying to gain some of his composure back.

"Mark, next time use Demerine, it will paralyze the vocal cords as well." He grabbed Mark finding his lips to be sweeter than normal. "Oh, you used the Tantorn fruit again. Gods, that makes you taste so good." Darby pushed at Sebastian's buttons by making love to Mark right in front of him. It was quick, as having an audience excited him. Mark redressed as he smirked at Sebastian's face green with envy.

"So you think that will make me jealous? I know you, Darby. I also know we have a good thing going here. You are not about to throw it away for that!" His arm moved like rubber as it went to point to Mark.

"Oh you think so? Well I was going to keep you around as well. But Mark is turning out to be a great asset and he would never think of taking something that was mine. Would you, Mark?" Darby smiled at the youth.

"Never, my love." Mark knelt before Darby very reverently.

"You see, complete obedience. You, I should kill for your actions." Quick as light, Darby was on Sebastian's body, pinning it to the chair. "I suggest for the sake of what we once had you will give it back. I will let you live then."

Mark stood up when Darby pounced. He watched the blood drain out of Sebastian's face as if he saw exactly what Darby was planning to do with him. Mark shook off the dread of having to go through another session today. The last one was still in his mind and he knew that Sebastian in Darby's mind was a special case and deserved a lot of attention.

"I don't have it, I swear. I wouldn't take that. It was Peter. He has it and he gave it to that woman and she, well she is out there somewhere. Gods, I'm not stupid, you have been my meal ticket for some time. You know how hard it is to freelance our type of work out in the Universe. The Agency is all over us non-sanctioned types. We have no credibility unless we are under a Master like you. Damn it, I wouldn't steal from you. Darby, I love you." The knife cut his cheek anyway. Darby stood and moved away from his former lover.

"Half a truth is better than none. You didn't come back for over two years and now you're broke. Funny how now you choose to say you love me. Well, get it back for me and we will talk. Otherwise I saw to your things and packed them for you. To dissolve our partnership I have supplied you with a fair amount of credits. Return the damn diamond and I will pay you more. But as far as love and having you again in my bed, that will never happen while I live. Now Mark, come with me. I don't want you exposed to this. The guards will see to the trash." Darby turned to go.

"You are a fool and someday you will regret you abandon me. Remember that I have predicted that sweet young thing you favor will be your death!" He kept yelling even after the two were out of earshot.

When they were alone in Darby's room, Mark performed for his lover. Darby was warm and gentle with him making love to the young man sweetly. "You did well tonight, but I sense you have something to say."

"Is it wise to keep such as him alive? You are too kind to him." Mark nuzzled into Darby's chest.

He smiled, kissing the top of Mark's head. "You are learning aren't you? I will take care of him because I owe him that. I also found a way to get him work so he will come into his own. I'm not all bad, my love, I just have a nasty streak. Don't hold it against me!" He pulled Mark to his lips, kissing the youth. "Someday we will need him. But just what for I'm not sure; until then you are mine and mine alone." He hugged Mark as they drifted off to sleep.

Mark didn't fall into dreaming right away. He thought on what Darby had said and how he knew that his words would be his undoing. So he whispered softly to the other man. "You should have killed him when you had the chance." To which Darby chuckled loving the way his new partner thought.

* * *

"I don't like it, Jack. NG doesn't have abilities like the twins. Leon may just be misreading what his brother said to him. Do we want to leave this up to the mind of a two year old? And he is my son. I'm not risking him even if it will help Mark." John whisper shouted at Jack while Mark lay less than three feet away from them.

"Look, it is worth a try. Even if he just calls Mark home, John isn't that enough? He has already said he has been watching Mark's dreams. Maybe that is what the moonstone did; transform his abilities to dream catching. Seems like a minor risk." Jack waited for the swing. It didn't happen as John began to pace, rubbing his hands through his hair.

"I didn't want to be reunited like this. It is so unfair that every time we try for something good, some kind of happiness, whatever is in our past shows itself again. I'll agree to it but I'm going to follow NG into the dream. This way if something goes wrong I may be able to pull him out. At least I can try." He sat on the chair near the bed and smoothed back Mark's hair. "We are coming, Lovely. We are coming to bring you home."

_End Chapter 7_

_TBC_


	8. Chapter 8

They set up the room so they could follow NG's brainwave patterns on many different monitors using many different techniques. This wasn't going to be easy, considering the boy was rather put out that he was drugged and moved away from his father when John tried to get hold of the boy. The pouting child wouldn't listen, in his opinion, to the traitorous adults that had removed him from his Papa's side. The cookie bribe didn't cut it this time as NG just narrowed his eyes folding his arms over his chest and said "NO" to any attempts to get him into Mark's room.

John didn't seem to be making headway anyway, in Ianto's opinion. Considering every time he went near the boy, NG would scream and start to throw whatever was in reach at his Dad. John was losing his patience with the boy. Which didn't help their cause any. John's anger just seemed to enrage NG further anyway, making him more violent. John just seemed to surrender before he lost his cool. He then retreated as far away from NG as possible, looking miserable.

"I give up! Anna, give it a go please. The boy just hates me." John shook his head feeling shame in the fact his son really hated him.

It didn't help when a neighbor came knocking to ask what the hell was going on. It was late and the building needed to go to sleep. People had to work; they had lives to deal with in the morning. A good night's sleep made all the difference to dealing with the events of a new day.

John in his good-natured self said to the gentleman that if he had a problem to take it up with the police. His problem was a son that was two shakes away from an Earth custom known as a spanking. It was primitive as a means of punishment and control in John's mind, but effective and less damaging than a shock collar. He smiled as he slammed the door in the man's face, returning to his screaming child who was in the fit of a full-blown tantrum.

"I told you so Jack, that he would be well aware that we made him go to sleep to get him away from his Papa. Now he doesn't trust us at all. I wonder why?" Ianto asked, looking John's way. The ex-Time Agent grunted at Ianto before turning to Anna. Maybe the doctor could charm him.

Ianto turned his attention to his husband and John, before walking out the door.

"Nice going John, now he will call the police. Anna, talk to NG, I'll have a word with the neighbor. Jack, by all means don't lift a finger to help, just sit in that room and look pretty for us." Ianto was out the door ready to play diplomat to the French.

"Love you too, honey!" Jack yelled after Ianto as one of the monitors jumped to life. "John, get in here, I think Mark, as NG, would say, has turned again." Jack watched the signal shift as he glanced at Mark, who had moved just a little. "I think he is getting closer to coming home."

Frustrated, John left NG's wails for the sanctuary of the bedroom. He spoke to Jack, letting down his emotional guard. After all, Jack knew John better than anyone; he could let out his true concerns with Jack because he wouldn't use it against him later.

"Now if my son will just help out. Oh gods, I don't need this headache. Why does he hate me so?" Weary of the fight, John sat down on the bed and watched Mark in his deep sleep. "Lovely, he is a handful but he is ours. How do I reach him?" He rested his head on Mark's forehead, hoping to hear an answer somewhere in Mark's mind. "If you don't come back he is going to never accept me as his father." John watched for some kind of sign in Mark's stone cold face. There was nothing.

Meanwhile in the living room NG had himself in a frightful state of tears. It was, as Anna would note later to the rest of the team, a scene that was designed to bring down the house. He was inconsolable, sobbing and screeching just begging for Anna to take him away from that man while he climbed higher up on the couch.

"I don't want to be near him. Please Anna, he scares me so much." This mantra was repeated over and over again in multi mixings of different languages. The stream of tears had the boy choking on his own mucus as well. Little puffy red eyes cried fresh tears of with each realization that NG was truly alone. "Papa! I want my Papa!" He shouted again and again crying more fiercely then before.

"NG please dear, this isn't healthy for you. Sweetheart, let me hold you for a moment." She moved in closer as NG jumped to the floor backing him self up against the wall. With nowhere to run he sank to the ground reducing him self to a sobbing ball.

Jack came into the room then, watching the little boy lose his grip of the very world around him. All these strangers near him and the only person he felt comfortable with was laying on a bed lost in a dream. He studied the boy for a moment, watching Anna approach him carefully.

"NG, I know how you feel. Jack only did it so you would sleep. He didn't understand what you were up to. Please baby, your Papa needs you. Whatever it is you were doing for him you have to continue to try. Please NG, think of all of us who love your Papa and want him back with us."

Something in what Anna said seemed to settle the boy. His head perked up as he leveled his eyes on her. His sniffled a little as he uncurled his body to sit up against the wall. Wiping his eyes on his sleeves he responded. "Papa is not alone in his head, but he needs to be told it is just a dream." Suddenly NG's eyes were focused right on Jack. He seemed to stare right into his soul for the briefest of moments.

It unnerved Jack for a moment that this little boy seemed to see something inside of him at certain times. Jack was beginning to wonder if NG's abilities weren't taken away but that they were just latent and much stronger than the others. That again it would take time to study just what this child was capable of doing. If he was really capable of anything, Mark had been working with the boy. The connection might just be only with his Papa; so far he didn't see him showing signs of contact with the Twins. Though the two did seem to pick up on the chaos going on inside Mark's mind and what NG was experiencing from it.

Jack sighed being a little tired to think about what NG may have in store for his future. The one thing that Jack did know was whatever NG was going to be told about his rather unusual birth was up to his parents. As his Uncle he would honor that. But if the child, just like if Jolein or Leon ever started to show signs that they were a threat to planet Earth, it would become a Torchwood matter. Somehow Jack doubted that would happen. He let a smile brush his lips which spread to NG's little tear stained face bringing it out on the child's features.

"Charming the little prince, are we Jack?" It was Ianto who had snuck in behind him. He didn't have a chance to move as NG bolted across the floor in a straight path towards Ianto and hugging his leg. "Hey, what's this?" He hugged the boy. "Am I forgiven? How about we forgive Anna and your Dad as well? Jack, you can punish a little longer." He winked at Jack.

NG giggled as he wrapped an arm around Jack's leg as well. Here the change of environment John came out of the bedroom to see his son hugging his two Uncles while Anna joined them. She picked NG up and kissed his cheek, making the boy giggle. He cleared his throat to alert the others of his presence. Anna did something surprising; she brought NG over to him.

John just blinked as she presented him with his son. To his surprise, as if NG called a ceasefire to his hostilities, he allowed John to hold him, seeking a safe place to be in.

"Daddy," was the only thing the boy said as he nuzzled his head into John's shoulders. Anna watched amazed that NG was allowing John to hold him. But she guessed after all that fuss, he just wanted to find comfort and John felt like the right person to NG.

To John it was heaven to have his child in his arms after so long. Even though he doubted NG would be as easy as Leon and Jolein were in their future together and that more than likely the two would clash more often than not. It felt to John that a little bit of that early wedge that had been forged between father and son was disappearing. He knew they still had a long way to go.

* * *

Four years went by and Mark was fading in strength. His abilities were disappearing along with his will to live. When he could to ease his mind, he would let the steam build up on the mirror in the bathroom and he would draw works of momentary art. Many of these drawings were of a man he couldn't remember but who seemed important to him. These drawings brought him a quick state of joy before they were erased by the nature of the steam again. Sometimes he would work for hours on a project when he knew Darby had worn him self out in the playroom. Then he would crawl into their bed and curl up next to his lover, seeking the blank empty dreams his mind was left with. The drugs were destroying him. Worst yet, Darby noticed it.

And one day it happened. He had nothing to give Darby. He could no more read the client than he could Darby. He got down on his knees, bowing his head and waited for Darby to take his life.

He heard the final scream and felt Darby's hand on his head. 'This is it.' He thought. 'My last moment in time, I can go and be free. Perhaps I'll find happiness the next time around.'

It wasn't death that sought him. It was Darby's lips. "I'm sorry, this is my fault. I should have known that the drugs would bring this upon you. I'm taking your off of them and getting you clean. It is the least I can do; you have brought me such love. I'm telling you now it won't be easy. But I will put all other work on hold while I get you through it." He knelt, pulling Mark into a hug.

After all this time Mark saw this man full of love. But behind him was a corpse of a man that didn't deserve death. Despite what Mark had done for Darby and how much he owed the man and what love he did share for him, Mark knew the only chance he had was to someday free himself from his chains.

Unknowingly by offering to get him clean, Darby had just undone the first link in the chain, allowing Mark a chance at freedom.

* * *

Little NG was so small as he lay in between his Papa and Dad, but he felt safe again. Jack and Ianto hooked the two up to the machine while Anna got ready to induce a sleep aid that would get them to a dream state fast. John agreed to bring NG into Mark's subconscious only hanging back to let NG do whatever it is he was doing. NG for the most part didn't understand anything in the adult world but smiled when he snuggled up to his Papa and John draped his arms around his youngest.

Anna let the tubes fill with the drug, slowly letting NG and John slip off into sleep. Jack watched the machines with Ianto as Anna monitored all the sleepers' vital signs. It wasn't long until she confirmed they were indeed fast asleep and beginning to dream.

NG was with John for a few moments until something had him running ahead of his Dad. John didn't know why the boy was in a hurry so he tried his best to keep up with him. But powered on instinct, NG ran ahead, leaving John alone somewhere in Mark's mind with no sight of his son.

* * *

The room was quiet, as the sleepers didn't move. An occasional ping or beep from the equipment echoed through the quiet. It was then that Jack stood and reached for something in his pocket. Ianto smiled as he saw that Jack pulled out the moonstone. He went to the bed and put it around Mark's neck.

"NG said it was a good luck charm. He went to great lengths to keep it with him so maybe it would return the favor and give Mark a hand getting back home." He broke the silence of the room as he looked at his husband.

"Let's us hope so for all of their sakes." He stood and walked to Jack, finding it nice to fit into his arms again. "We should snip at each other more often. And you should give me a raise since I was such a good diplomat with the neighbor." He rested his head on Jack's shoulder.

"Oh? What did you say to him, Ianto?" The conversation piqued Anna's interest.

"I told him that we were conducting an exorcism and it was best that he didn't get the authorities involved. So I gave him some hotel money and told him it would be best to leave for the night. He just crossed himself and locked up his apartment immediately, didn't even pack a bag. You see, that is thinking on my feet!" He laughed, causing the other two to chuckle.

"Now you know why I love you. You're amazing." They kissed, making Anna feel uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, Janto, but let's concentrated on this then I'll pay for a room for you two just so we don't have to watch your incredible adorableness." She smiled as Ianto shot her a look.

"Did Nick tell you that term? I thought I had asked that it shouldn't be used again, although I guess it is better the Iack or Ianck or Jacto, but still. We are just two individuals sharing space. Not the perfect couple like my cousin loves to point out. God, he wasn't supposed to mention that to you, ever!"

Jack laughed. "As one half of Janto, I for one have grown to love it. Ianto let it go; really it isn't worth the argument. Besides we are worthy of a joint name!" He rubbed noses with his Welshman just as the machines beeped.

Jack looked at the monitor and smiled. "NG seems to have found his Papa!"

* * *

Darby was right, it was hell coming off the drug but when it was over he had his abilities back. Mark didn't forget how close Darby and he became while he went through the pain of withdrawal. But the relationship grew and with it the respect he earned from Darby. It was an odd time; the last two years of his captivity brought him a sense of peace. He also felt that maybe it wasn't so bad, as he fell in love with Darby.

But it didn't last. He was sick of the torture sessions and the worst part was that Darby was noticing how upset it was making him. This increased Darby's roughness in the bedroom. This change in Darby had Mark fretful for his place in Darby's house. He wasn't sure when Darby would confront him for his lack of conviction with the work they were doing.

Instead, Darby did just the opposite. He saw what was happening and decided it was time to retire. But to bring his career to an end he would need to make a big score. Something so huge he could retire. So he told Mark that he was going to end his sadness by making a deal for lots of credits and that he picked a place where they could just be together in peace. Of course he said he was going to meet up with an old friend first and catch up with him for a bit. But that would just be for a short time.

Mark smiled at his lover, happy that Darby was changing and he would have a chance for a real normal life.

It wasn't long until Mark noticed the conversations occurring between four different people over the same piece of merchandise. Each customer seemed to not know that the other existed. But each was making a deal to buy the same product.

One day after a lengthy lovemaking session, Mark found his tongue and asked Darby about it. Darby laughed and became enthusiastic with his lover's interest and produced the item out of the safe.

Mark's eyes bugged out as he saw his moonstone in Darby's hands. The very gift, the only thing his beloved Master ever gave him. It was his and no one had the right to take it away. But as Darby bragged about his luck and how he was screwing four people out of money and that no one would get the stone anyway, Mark plotted his way out. This man that he once thought he loved was nothing but a cheat. It finally sank into Mark's brain that to Darby, Mark was no different than that moonstone, a piece of merchandise.

So that night, Darby snoozed and Mark removed Darby's heart to match the broken one he had from trusting a lustful, sick, twisted sociopath.

"You see, my love, we had a love story. Why didn't you just let the plan go through? I would have loved you forever." Darby looked at Mark as he turned away from the scene.

_He held the moonstone in his hand and smiled "It wasn't meant to be. You just gave me strength. Even when I loved you, it was wrong. I wasn't like you, I was just staying alive." _

_He looked past Darby, seeing NG standing there. "You made it here, NG! You mustn't remember any of this, what I let you see and do in this place. It was wrong of me to try and help you." The boy ran through Darby, making the ghost vanish for good. He jumped into his father's arms. _

_Mark looked past NG and saw John standing there watching. "This son of ours led me on some chase. But your Papa is right, NG; in time you will get your gifts back. Until then you have to forget." John was standing with them as both parents sealed off NG's memories of the past year. "Shall we go home, Lovely?"_

"_Yes John, bring me home now."_

_

* * *

_

All three woke with a start, making Jack, Ianto and Anna jump. NG rubbed his eyes while watching his parents. Mark looked around to find John's eyes on him. He smiled, taking in John's hazel eyes full of such love. "Just like when I first saw you back in the bar, your wonderful eyes. Thanks for coming for me." This kiss was careful. Both men were nervous and had been longing for the other for almost two years. Their kiss wasn't sexual but passionate and full of all those things love was made of.

NG wiggled out from between his parents and watched the exchange with sharp eyes studying just how this other father was and how he made his Papa happy. Not to be ousted from his position, NG tugged on his Papa's shirt.

"Hug me, Papa!" He demanded and fell into Mark's arms while John wrapped his arms around the both of them, cradling them together. Safe within his family, Mark had finally made it home.

* * *

"It was stupid, I know that now. I didn't think it would even work. But with the moonstone I got NG to follow me into the dreams. I thought I could teach him how to project. I didn't know he was just following me. Much like you John, how I taught you to astral project. The thing is, you have your abilities like Nick did. NG just copies me. My baby isn't very strong at it. But he knows how to watch a dream. I wonder what that will do for him in the future?"

Mark stirred his coffee while Jack, Ianto and Anna sat listening to him. NG slept soundly in the other room. John was next to Mark, holding his other hand. He felt safe like this once again surrounded by the people he loved. Once they were alone, he would show John just how much he missed him. But right now this felt better. He had spent so much of his life having sex that holdings hand with this amazing man next to him meant so much more to Mark right now. He was grateful to Darby for showing him that part of his life again and once NG had stepped through the image, Mark was at last free of that part of his past for good.

"So are we safe now? Anything else you may have in your subconscious's closet or is that the last?" Ianto asked Mark, feeling Jack's hand on his knee.

He smiled reading the pair in front of him. "You two have what been without for what a day and you can't stop yourselves from touching each other." Mark laughed, watching Jack and Ianto turn a nice pink shade.

Jack quickly recovered. "Oh, are you jealous or what?" He smirked. "Well joking aside, I still don't see what trigged this. You mentioned after you woke up that you were dazed in the alley and your neck hurt. That was after you had walked back here for dinner. The moonstone reacted to whatever you were feeling. Can you fill that in?" He blinked as he waited for Mark to answer.

Mark didn't know how to put it. He was sure it was the reason for the loss of consciousness and the coma-like state, but how did you begin to tell the story about how you killed someone, even if it was to ease his suffering? He gulped, tightening his hold on John's hand for strength.

"There was a man named Joshua that was sent to Darby as a client. I watched as Darby used his talents on him while I held onto his mind, pulling out the information Darby needed for his buyer. Well in the end, spent, Darby let me bring him to death. Loyalwin showed me how to do this when we found a Badrone, a four-legged creature that looks similar to a wolf. It was badly hurt and dying. So together we helped it to pass into the void. Well this came in handy for the hundreds I watched Darby play with. So with or without Darby's go ahead, I would send them off to find peace." He took a sip of coffee as he scanned his audience.

"You poor dear! Mark, that sounds awful. That must have hurt you each time you had to do it." Anna looked terrified from the thought of having to kill. As a doctor it was unthinkable. It made her wonder what she would do herself if she were given just a few choices when it came to her survival.

"Actually, the drugs masked most of it. Until Joshua, he was the first to reach out to me. I felt honored to have him in my thoughts. But though I made that promise to mourn him later, it never happened. I buried it deep down in the deepest place of my mind. Then dinner with Gerard trigged it. He was the exact double of Joshua. It was my first thought when I saw NG and John when I woke up. It was my mind waking that up so I could remember that act of kindness in a very dark moment. I needed to remember Joshua's life." He was suddenly sad and tired as he rested his head on John's shoulder.

"All this for a memory, a moonstone, and a little boy. Well thank goodness you are back with us. Now that you are back with us, will you come home now?" Ianto ventured to ask.

"After I finish Gerard's portrait. It can't just leave that. I don't want a dream coming to get me when I least expect it!" He perked up a bit, enough to join the others in the laugh.

"I'll stay with you. It would be good to spend time with the kids all-together for a change. You can paint and Leon and Jolein can help me get used to NG. I have a feeling that he just won't accept me for a long time. But I can try to understand his point of view and give him the time he needs. I can't guarantee I won't get mad at him. That will never happen." He lifted Mark's hand up to his lips and kissed it softly, catching his lover's grin.

"He will, my love. Maybe not right away, but someday NG will love you. That much I can feel from him. You can only do your best with him." He found John's lips as tender as the first time they had kissed. How long ago that seemed. He knew that even if NG were still closed off to him that at some point he would awaken. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, Mark never did say but if it meant that NG would find away to love John, then it didn't matter the outcome in Mark's mind. As long as they were a family, that was the important thing.

"But will John Hart survive that terror in a two year olds body? He is a challenge. Don't forget a translator. He was speaking Japanese a little while ago." Ianto commented, watching as John's face fell.

"Eye Candy, he will do what he will do. I just hope I don't implode with trying to be a loving parent. But once we get home, he has to learn discipline. I won't allow that display in our house. Is that okay, Lovely?" He watched Mark calculating a way to diplomatically answer without usurping John's power.

"That will be fine, as long as NG listens. That is something you may have trouble with. But that I will leave for you to find out; after all I wouldn't want to take the whole NG experience away from you. It is something one needs to live through for himself." He grinned knowing John would take on the challenge.

"Good luck with the Hell Spawn. You need it, old friend!" Jack laughed at the puss face John had on. The table laughed together at the joke, prompting John to join in. All was well for now, but sometimes things that seemed to end were only just the beginning.

* * *

The Twins and NG ran up and down the field, each taking turns trying to fly the kite that Uncle Ianto had bought them before Jack and he headed back to Cardiff. John watched, stepping in every so often to help out by giving them advice. Finally he just gave up and had the kite sailing up as he ran through the field, followed by three shrieking children full of laughter and joy on the perfect sunny day.

Anna left with Jack and Ianto after giving NG and Mark a clean bill of health. She was sad to leave the little boy who sniffled at her as she went to get on the plane. It was apparent to Mark that NG was now developing a base set of emotions. Which was good in a way. Jack had the feeling that NG was playing them. The boy just realized the world stopped and focused on him alone when he let the tears fall. It was the perfect con; one that Jack knew in time John Hart would get wise to. Until then, let him enjoy being a father. It was a good feeling, after all.

On the way back to Cardiff, Jack asked Ianto about his thoughts on being a parent. Ianto frowned before telling Jack it was out of the question. They had too many responsibilities and enough children with in their group to play house with, on occasion. Jack seemed hurt, but got over it. But Ianto hid the real reason why he didn't want a family. He would take it with him to his grave. The subject was never talked about again with any seriousness.

John and Mark settled on getting married when they got back to Cardiff. Jolein Sr. went on ahead of them as well. She wanted to give the family space. Mark told her she could stay with them and she laughed at him. Despite her love for them all, she needed her space as well. He understood that. That decision had him keeping the apartment in Paris. John suggested it in case he needed to have some time away from them again. The funny thing was that Mark never did go back alone. John and he would use it to get away on the weekends when they could. Later the kids would use it for school breaks. Of course, Jack and Ianto would steal the keys and end up there on those extensive Weevil hunts. Like the rest of the Torchwood team believed that.

Life went on for all of them. Gerard never saw Mark again, but did get his painting delivered to his bookstore. It was beautifully framed and the perfect image of him. He marveled at the detail and the perfection that went into the picture when he never even sat for the artist. "All from memory, Mama, he painted it all from memory." He told his mother when she gasped at the skilled work that was crafted with obvious loving hands. Gerard wrote Mark an amazing letter thanking him. What happened to Gerard after that no one knew but he most likely lived a long and happy life.

_The End_

If you want to know about the next and final stage of this story it is called: _Remember The Good Times, for they are so few_. It takes place 22 years from the end of this one, following the story on NG and the rest of the Torchwood team.

Thank you for reading!


End file.
